Naruto: Acolyte of Jashin
by Draknal
Summary: A child is easiest to teach at a young age. Why not teach him the ways of Jashin? Rated for language and death. Naru x Tayu
1. Prologue

**Naruto: Acolyte of Jashin**

Draknal: This was just a thought that came to mind a while ago. I figured I should post this before too many other stories like this come out, and then people point at me saying things like, "You copied off of (insert author here). You suck! You aren't original!" I don't want to have to deal with it. If there are spelling errors or incorrect translations, then I apologize.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of its characters, just the plot of this story.

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**Prologue**

October 10th. Many find this day to be one of celebration; the day that the Yondaime Hokage defeated the fearsome Kyuubi no Kitsune all those years ago. Although he lost his life in the process, the blonde Hokage had stopped the rampage of the enraged bijuu.

For one boy though, this was a day he dreaded more than any other of the year. While most young boys his age would be ecstatic about their birthday and getting gifts, the presents he received instead were assassination attempts. Why? He had absolutely no idea why. The villagers just never seemed to like him.

Every time he walked through the village streets, he was met with harsh glares and whispers. Some people even went so far as to throw things at him. It usually never went beyond that though. The only exception was October 10th, where for some reason, random groups of villagers became brave enough, or drunk enough, to pursue the boy and attack him.

This occurred every year without fail, no matter where he tried to hide. If he was in his apartment, the mob would simply break his door down and proceed to beat him. If he was in the streets, they would grab whatever was available, corner him, and attempt to kill him. They wouldn't succeed though, as ANBU would show up and stop the assault. They always arrived a few minutes after the beating, acting as if they didn't know that he was going to be attacked in the first place.

Afterwards, he would end up in the hospital, being tended to, quite begrudgingly, by the doctors there. Then the Hokage would come and visit him, and of course he would apologize on behalf of the villagers, saying that they didn't deserve the sacrifice of the Yondaime. Following that, he would take the hyperactive blonde out for ramen, at the only stand or restaurant that would allow him there, Ichiraku's.

Finally, with the day over, he could rest once again knowing that he had an entire year between this and the next attempt on his life. However, he still had to get through today.

Uzumaki Naruto definitely did _not _like his birthday. To him it didn't symbolize that he was another year older, it symbolized one more year of survival. Sitting on his bed, the recently turned seven-year old looked at his clock. It read 6:21pm.

With a sigh the blonde laid on his back, staring up at his ceiling. 'Well, I only have to get through six more hours,' he thought sadly.

He had gotten through the earlier half of the day with ease. By simply staying in his apartment he would usually be okay. After all, the villagers had better things to do than trudge over to his run down apartment complex.

Unfortunately, it wasn't the morning or afternoon that he had to worry about, it was the evening. At night, the celebration would take place, and the villagers would drink to their heart's content. That alcohol had to go somewhere, and it usually went to their heads.

Because of said toxin, they would formulate the brilliant idea in their minds of attacking the "demon child." To them, he was simply a demon in sheep's clothing, waiting to unleash his unrivaled fury on them…

The young blonde hopped off of his bed and slipped on his sandals. Maybe if he went to the Hokage Tower and met with the old man he wouldn't be attacked. After all, no one was _that _stupid, to attack the person that the Hokage thought of as a grandson, while in his presence.

Making sure to lock his apartment up, the young jinchuuriki set off in the direction of the Hokage's office. If he was lucky, the villagers weren't _too _drunk yet.

'I wonder what jiji-san is doing…' he pondered, trying to keep his mind off of the topic of the villagers.

Slipping through the shadows, something he had become quite good at, he drew ever closer to the looming structure that was the Hokage Tower. He had learned in the short span of seven years that if you weren't seen, you weren't paid attention to. And if people didn't pay attention to you, they wouldn't attack you. _That _was what he was trying to accomplish.

"Hey, the demon is over here!"

However, what he hadn't counted on this year was a few Chuunin who had decided to join in the "demon" hunt.

And he had been so close too! Seeing the mob heading in his direction he took off as fast as his seven-year old legs would allow. Having lived through the beatings of previous years was enough of an incentive for him to not get caught.

The members of the mob had longer legs, and therefore, a longer gait than Naruto. He knew this, and _because _he knew that, he had learned different tricks to help him avoid getting caught. His first trick; use traps.

Rounding a corner and heading into an alleyway, he jumped over a wire that he had set up. The mob, not far behind him, ran into the alley. With the mixture of drunken stupor that some were in and the lack of sunlight, many of the villagers did not see the tripwire and tumbled to the ground. Some of the more sober mob members were able to avoid it, and the Chuunin simply scoffed at such a simple trap.

However, they soon noticed that the demon child was no longer in sight. But that wasn't possible! How could he have gotten out of the alley without them seeing him? Traversing the entire alleyway, they found no sign of the obnoxious child. Assuming he had simply given them the slip for the moment they decided to search elsewhere.

After they left, a small section of brick wall began snickering. Lowering his camouflage sheet, Naruto let out a sigh of relief. He looked over the brick wall patterned sheet, silently thanking Kami that some people were stupid enough to fall for such a simple trick.

That was tactic number two that the blonde had employed when it came to his survival. Play on other people's stupidity. Most people in Konoha were simply villagers, and as such they had no training in spotting illusions or things that were slightly out of place. It was a little odd though, that two Chuunin would not be able to see through that.

"Well, that was pretty clever you little monster," came an amused voice from behind the child.

He froze, too scared to look behind him. That was the voice of one of the nin. Apparently they _had _known he was there. Not bothering to turn around or ask questions, he did what came naturally, he bolted.

Naruto knew that the two ninja would be right behind him. Running out of the alley, he decided to use tactic number three, which was to use his size to get into small places where others wouldn't fit.

He accomplished this by crawling into a sewer pipe, much to his chagrin. A smirk came to his face, knowing the ninja could not follow him. A kunai whizzed by his face, wiping away his grin. The Chuunin may not have been able to follow, but the same couldn't be said for their projectiles, their _pointy _projectiles.

Eventually he made his way deeper into the sewer, where projectiles could no longer reach him. He scrunched his nose in disgust as the smell of sewage assaulted his senses. Putting that aside, he thought about his current course of action.

'I can't just stay down here all night. Someone might come down in after me,' he frowned.

There were several exits he could choose from. Unfortunately, he figured that the ninja were most likely waiting at the end of some of those exits, backed up by a mob no doubt. There was _one _exit though, which connected with the outside of the village that he could take. It was covered with a metal grate, but the thing was old, rusty, and in need of serious repair.

"There's no way they'd be waiting for me there!" he grinned, happy that he would finally have a year of peace on his birthday that didn't involve beatings.

After several minutes of crawling, he managed to find the metal grate. Kicking it repeatedly showed promising results, as the piece of metal creaked and groaned in protest. Finally, with a loud _**CLANG **_it gave way and fell to the ground. Looking both ways, the jinchuuriki found that the coast was clear.

"Ha! You didn't get me this year you big dummies!" he proclaimed, proud of his accomplishment.

"Who are you callin a dummy?" came a voice from above.

With a bit of disbelief and a great deal of fear, Naruto looked up. The boy was flabbergasted. Standing horizontally on the wall above him were the two Chuunin that had been pursuing him… and one other person.

For the first time in all the years he had been chased or beaten, the blonde felt true fear. The other arrival was a Jounin… as identified by his attire.

That fear added a great deal of adrenaline to his system, and using that as fuel, he dashed into the forested area. He wasn't running for the sake of not being beaten, he was running for the sake of staying _alive._

Weaving through the trees, he hoped to confuse or at least put some obstacles in between him and the following ninja. Kunai and shuriken would zip past him, some managing to knick him, opening small cuts.

X-X-X-X-X

Several minutes later the young blonde stopped behind a large tree to catch his breath. Even with his unnaturally high stamina, he had to stop every now and then to rest. His pursuers took this time to corner him, dropping out of the tree branches above.

In a flash, the two Chuunin had apprehended the demon container. The Jounin stood back, grinning all the while.

"You gave us quite a chase you little demon, but even _you _can't run forever," he commented, drawing his katana.

"Let me go! I never did anything to you!" the boy shouted, trying with all of his might to escape the grips of the Chuunin. His efforts would prove futile.

"Never did anything to us?" the man inquired. "You killed thousands! You murdered my fellow ninja! For that you will die!"

Naruto had no idea what to make of that. Killed people? By the _thousands? _He was a seven-year old for Kami's sake!

"I'll be sure to kill you nice and slow. Just be a good demon and hold still," the veteran ninja grinned maliciously. Pulling back his katana, he looked as though he was going to charge and stab the boy.

He stayed like that for several moments, completely unmoving. The Chuunin found this a little odd, seeing as how big a deal the man had made about this just moments ago.

"Sir?" one of them asked.

The man suddenly slumped forward, a large scythe with three blades protruding from his back. Each of the persons present let out a gasp of shock, not sure what to make of this.

The Chuunin, worried for their own safety, released the demon brat and drew kunai. They turned their attention toward a new arrival who had just made his way into their line of sight.

He was a large man with slicked back, silver hair and a plain black cloak. Around his neck was a hitai-ate with a slash through it. That meant he was a missing nin…

Naruto watched the man with awe. He had just killed a Jounin, one of the best ninjas that a village had to offer. Part of him wanted to run up to the man and embrace him, while thanking him for the assistance, but another part told him to sit still and stay seated on the ground with his back to the tree he had been caught at. He chose to follow the latter of the two thoughts.

"Who the hell are you?" one of the Chuunin asked, readying his kunai, just in case.

The man seemed to regard them with indifference. He made his way towards his imbedded weapon and pulled it from the deceased man's body. Resting the weapon over his shoulder, his face seemed to light up with joy, the same kind that a child would show if they had been given a new toy.

Kneeling down, the man almost seemed to be praying. "Jashin-sama, I ask that you accept the sacrifice that I offer you today. May you be satisfied with the deaths of these heathens."

Hearing the word "death" seemed to put the two Konoha nin on edge even more than before. Not wanting to waste the opportunity given to them, they dashed towards the man, intent on striking to kill.

The nukenin simply sidestepped the charging men, skewering the one closest to him with a swing from his weapon.

The other Chuunin, wanting to get some distance between him and his attacker, leapt into the air. "Why do you defend the kyuubi brat?!" he roared. "He must die!"

He soon flashed through a few handsigns. "Katon: Goukakyu no Jutsu!"

A large fireball soon descended on the silver haired man. He didn't even seem worried about the attack, although he wondered what the hell the Konoha nin was babbling about. Something about a kyuubi?

Seconds later the fireball impacted with the ground and erupted in an explosion. Satisfied with his work, the Chuunin turned his attention back to the blonde jinchuuriki. That is, until a scythe blade made its way around his neck.

"How?" was the last thing he muttered before the blade was drawn back, slicing the nin's neck open. He fell to the ground, gasping and clutching at his neck. Seconds later his movement stopped completely.

The scythe wielding nukenin knelt down once again, preparing to pray to his god of darkness. He was stopped when a quiet voice made its way to his ears.

"T-Thank you nin-san…" the blonde boy mumbled. He was going to say more, but stopped when the man's rose pupils focused on him. His soul piercing gaze made Naruto feel as though he was burning a hole through him.

Closing his eyes, the man whispered. "Forgive me Jashin-sama. I have not killed all of the beings present, as I promised I would. I have failed you, and shall now repent."

Standing back up, he drew his scythe and stepped towards the blonde child, who could only watch in fear as the man drew closer. He raised his weapon, ready to strike down the child who had kept him from fulfilling his promise to his lord. He stopped however, when he felt a tug at the back of his mind.

It was a spiritual tug, meaning that Jashin was trying to communicate with him, as it normally did. It never spoke to him, just simply hinted at things with vague notices, such as this. He withdrew his weapon and returned it to the strap on his back.

Turning back to the scared boy in front of him, he knelt down so that he was at eye level with the blonde. "Jashin-sama sees great things in you and wants you to come with me. So, you interested?"

Naruto was a little shocked at the recent turn of events. He had been chased by a mob, nearly killed by nin from his own village, then rescued by a strange man, only to be nearly killed by him as well, then offered an opportunity to leave his village by same said man.

"You mean… leave my village?" he asked, slightly intrigued.

The man nodded. "Yeah. They don't seem to like you anyway."

This was true. They never acknowledged him in a positive way, and tried to kill him every year on his birthday. The only person that cared for him was the Hokage, and he wasn't around all the time.

"You mean I can go with you, and never have to go back there?" Naruto inquired, hope in his voice.

The nin frowned. What did it take to get through to him? "Fuck kid… how many times do I have to ask? I'm offering you a chance to leave this shit hole and travel with me."

"Yatta!" was the response he got. "Yes! Please!"

Standing back up, he turned on his heel and began his trek through the forest, in the opposite direction of Konoha.

"Hey wait!" cried the blonde as he ran after his savior.

"I'm not gonna wait around all day damnit," the scythe wielder chuckled. "You got a name?"

"Um… it's Naruto… nin-san." He waited a few seconds, hoping that the nin would give him _his _name in return. When all he got was silence, he decided to ask. "Nin-san, what's your name?"

"Hidan," was the answer.

"Hidan-san, why were you out here? Don't you have a village you should be at?" the blonde youth innocently inquired.

He received no answer at first, simply a brief glance in his direction. "My village didn't like how I praise my god, Jashin-sama. So I left. I've been traveling for a while. Call it a pilgrimage of sorts," he grinned.

Oh yes, pilgrimage was putting it lightly. By "pilgrimage", he of course meant, killing every living person he came across, in the name of Jashin. His travels just happened to take him past Konohakagure.

"Where are we going?" Naruto asked.

"You know, you ask too many fucking questions. We're heading wherever I feel like going. Anything else you want to ask?" He followed this up by grabbing the handle of his scythe.

The young boy shook his head from side to side quite vigorously. This action made the silver haired nin smirk.

"Good."

-End Chapter-

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Draknal: Well, please let me know what you think. Unless it's a flame. I'm new to the Naruto "story posting" community, so I can't claim to be perfect yet. I'll update when I can.

Please leave a review on your way out. I'd appreciate it, and it just might encourage me to update more often.


	2. Chapter 1

**Naruto: Acolyte of Jashin**

Draknal: Hey, I'm back for another chapter of this story. Thanks to all of the people who bothered to review. In fact, while on that note I believe I'll start off this chapter with a little rant. 

I couldn't believe how fast my story got reviews, or the sheer number of them that I got. However, I noticed something rather interesting…

I got **43** reviews on the first chapter. Know how many story alerts and favorites I got? There were _**101 **_alerts, and _**50 **_favorites! I looked at the number of reviews, then compared them to the other stats. Where is the justice in this? These people had already put forth the effort to sign into their account and click a few checkmarks, but they couldn't leave a few encouraging words? Ah, the world we live in… I'm just saying, there's something not right about this. 

Well, that's it for me. Now on to what you people are here for. 

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of its characters, just the plot of this story.

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**Chapter 1**

Traveling with Hidan had proved to be an interesting new experience for Naruto, as he never knew what to expect next from the silver-haired nukenin. Over the course of two days, he had come to discover that the scythe wielder possessed some very… _unique_, as well as gruesome abilities.

_-Flashback-_

"_Alright kid, what do you-"_

"_Naruto. My name is Naruto, not kid," the blonde interjected._

"_Whatever. Naruto, what do you know about shinobi?" Hidan inquired. If he was going to train him, he'd need to find out what the kid already knew._

_The jinchuuriki sat for a moment, scratching his head. What __**did **__he know about shinobi? "Um… they come from different villages. And… oh! They can use really cool moves by making hand signs! And, uh- there are different ranked shinobi!"_

_Hidan could only stare as the young boy gave him a large, idiotic grin. "So basically you don't know shit about shinobi, right?"_

_Hearing the man curse made the boy's grin falter. Obviously his answers weren't the ones Hidan had been expecting. "Um… no sir."_

_The scythe wielder let out an exasperated sigh. He really had his work cut out for him. He had come to wonder why he had been made to spare the boy. So far, he had considered that Jashin was simply screwing with him just for his own amusement. There certainly wasn't anything special about Naruto as far as he could see._

"_Well, looks like I'm gonna have to start with the basics then. Fan-fucking-tastic…" he muttered. "One of the first things you need to know-"_

_The nukenin stopped mid-sentence and drew his scythe. Naruto, who had been intently listening to what the man had to say, now found himself frantically looking around the immediate area. If Hidan had taken out his scythe, that meant there were enemies nearby. Or at least, that's what he assumed._

_A few seconds later four men seemingly appeared in front of them. Each wore what looked like breathing masks, and their hitai-ate signified that they were from Rain._

"_Well, what have we here?" One of them asked. "Silver hair, a scythe with three blades... Hidan, A-rank missing-nin. Current bounty on you is one million ryou. What luck for us," he chuckled._

_Hidan could only raise an eyebrow in response. "A-rank? Shit, now that's just insulting."_

_Not waiting to exchange more words, he leapt forward and swung his weapon at the nearest Rain nin. The man deftly dodged the attack, then responded with his own attack. "Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"_

_A barrage of shuriken flew at the nukenin. Naruto watched in horror as each shuriken dug into the man's flesh. There's no way he could survive that! All of a sudden the man exploded into a cloud of smoke, which after clearing, revealed an impaled log. The blonde wanted nothing more than to cheer at the spectacle. _

_Hidan had survived! Said man reappeared a moment later next to one of the Rain nin. The man had no chance. Hidan's scythe made quick work of him with a single slash. With one down, the silver-haired nin turned his attention to the other three. A large grin was now plastered on his face. _

"_Jashin-sama, may this sacrifice be to your liking!" he shouted, before charging at another nin._

_The rest of the fight, if it could even be called that, was rather uneventful. Hidan proved that A-rank was _definitely _not his current level, as he slaughtered the Rain nin with little effort. What really got Naruto's attention was the way in which the silver-haired nukenin dispatched his final opponent._

_Out of the four nin that had engaged Hidan, only the leader was left. The two had been locked in martial combat for a few moments, but after Hidan had slashed open the man's right arm, the Rain nin decided it was best to stick to long range combat. _

(A/N: For those of you wondering, martial combat means combat with close range weapons.)

_Leaping into the air above his scythe wielding enemy, the man pulled out what looked like a large umbrella. Naruto had to resist the urge to laugh, wondering what the desperate shinobi was planning. His attention was quickly drawn to Hidan, however, when he saw him begin forming some sort of strange symbol around himself. _

_Then the most bizarre thing happened. His skin changed color, from its normal pale white, to a deep shade of obsidian. The only exceptions were the parts that turned an ivory white, showing a pattern that looked strangely like his bone structure. The nukenin's face reminded him of that of a skull of a skeleton, except this one had a sadistic looking grin on it._

_Not caring about the transformation his opponent had gone through, the Rain nin hurled the odd umbrella at him. Not a moment later it exploded into a shower of kunai, which were speeding at an alarming rate toward Hidan. Naruto didn't allow himself to worry about what was going to happen. He would just use the log switching trick again, right?_

_To his chagrin, Hidan made no effort to avoid the attack at all. Not a flinch, no hand signs, _nothing. _Each kunai hit home, sinking into his flesh. The nukenin didn't cry out in pain, nor did he even wince as he became a human pincushion._

_That was more than what could be said for the Rain nin. His shouts and screams filled the air as he rapidly descended towards the ground. It was as if he was being struck by invisible foes, who only sought to increase his torment. He landed with a sickening __**CRUNCH**__. Not surprisingly, he did not move again after that._

_The young blonde watched as his savior made his way over to him, still grinning all the same. Blood was literally _pouring _from his wounds, where the kunai were all still lodged. Seeing his companion in such a state was too much for him to handle, and a moment later, he blacked out, fainting at the sight of the sickening scene._

_Later, when he had awoken, he found Hidan to be in perfect health, save for a few wounds which were still healing. The nukenin then divulged to the boy _why _he didn't, or for that matter, _couldn't _die._

_-End Flashback-_

Hidan had been very adamant about beginning the boy's training as a ninja. Looking back on the last fight, he noted that the blonde had only sat and watched as he killed the four unfortunate Rain nin. In a fight, he wasn't a hell of a lot of good. How was he supposed to serve Jashin-sama if he couldn't _fight?_

Letting out an aggravated sigh, Hidan stopped in his tracks. His young companion, too busy staring up at the sky, hadn't taken notice of the halted shinobi, and promptly walked right into him. 

A startled "whoa!" made its way out of the boy's mouth as he fell down, landing on his backside. "Why did you stop Hidan-san?"

"Naruto, how many times do I have to tell you, _stop _adding on that "san" bullshit," he began, giving the boy an irritated glare. "I hate that suffix crap. It's Hidan, _just__Hidan._ And the reason we're stopping is because it's time for you to begin your shinobi training."

The blonde's eyes lit up with excitement at the prospect of receiving shinobi training. Hidan had covered the basics with him, like what chakra and jutsus were, but he had yet to get any actual training. "Yatta! What are we going to do Hidan-sa… I mean, Hidan?"

Crossing his arms, the nukenin took a moment to think about exactly what he _could _teach the boy. "Hmm… I doubt you have enough chakra to perform any justu. And you're too puny to be using a weapon yet… Ah, I got it."

Reaching into the bag he had confiscated from one of the dead Rain nin from the previous day, he pulled out a pouch and tossed it to the seven year old. Opening it up, the boy found it to be filled with kunai. He looked up a Hidan, a questioning look on his face.

"You're gonna learn how to throw a kunai, that way you can actually _help _the next time we get into a fight," the silver-haired nin elaborated.

Nodding in understanding, the blonde pulled out a few of the pointed projectiles. The last time he had seen the tiny projectiles this close up was when the Chuunin had been chasing him during the Kyuubi festival… Boy wouldn't they be in for a surprise when he starting throwing kunai _back _at them!

Looking around for a suitable target to practice throwing at, Hidan came to find that there _was _no proper target. Growling at his misfortune, he started thinking about what alternatives there were that he could make due with.

Calling his blonde apprentice over to him, Hidan instructed the boy on how to throw the kunai properly, and _what _he would be throwing them at. Moments later, Naruto found himself holding a kunai, taking aim at his designated target. 

"B-But Hidan, what if I-"

"Just throw the damned thing!" the nukenin shouted, interrupting the jinchuuriki's stammering.

With an unsure gulp, the boy launched a projectile at his target. He closed his eyes, waiting for the results. He looked only after he heard a **THUNK. **

"Wow kid, that was _pathetic. _At least try to aim the fuckin' thing!" Hidan growled out.

Concentrating on his target, Naruto let another kunai fly. He was rewarded with a hit. Not a vital hit, but it landed on the target nonetheless. Realizing how easy this was, the blonde continued to throw until he ran out of kunai.

Looking at the boy's handiwork, Hidan called him over to see how he did. "Not bad for a first time. Sixteen of them hit, and ya missed fourteen."

Gathering the kunai that missed, Hidan laid them in a pile. Pulling a kunai out of his chest, he placed it in a separate pile. 

"This pile is for the ones that hit," he explained. Taking a kunai out of his neck, he placed it in a separate pile. "This one is for kunai that hit a _vital _spot."

The man continued to remove kunai from his body until he reached one that was stuck in his inner thigh. "Kid, I swear to Jashin-sama that if you had hit just a little higher with this, I'd have killed you."

To his credit, Naruto did not flinch or faint this time when he saw all the blood from Hidan's wounds. This had been one of the first things that the nukenin had worked to rectify. There was no such thing as a shinobi who became squeamish at the sight of blood. 

(A/N: Far away in a casino somewhere, a certain blonde Sannin sneezed.)

He had told Naruto that in the world of shinobi, it was a matter of either kill or _be killed. _If you became weak at the sight of blood, or death, then you probably wouldn't live much longer yourself. That had been incentive enough for the blonde to toughen himself up. He was still hesitant when it came to killing, but the blood was no longer an issue.

When the piles of projectiles were all laid out, there was a pile of fourteen, the ones he missed, a pile of twelve, the ones that hit, and a pile of four, the ones that hit a vital point. Considering the kid had never thrown a kunai in his life before, the overall outcome was _not_ that bad. With some practice, he might actually become an asset in a fight.

He continued to act as a target for Naruto until the boy became weary, his strength giving out from having thrown so many projectiles. Deciding that it might be best to stop for the day and set up camp, Hidan gathered the kunai and stored them away for later use. His traveling companion had collapsed, saying he was too tired to continue moving. 

The boy's declaration had made the scythe wielder chuckle. All things considered, the boy was a bit rough around the edges, but with a little fine tuning he could make a promising follower of Jashin.

X-X-X-X-X

Naruto was having a great time. Most kids would be whining about wanting to sleep indoors, or eating good food, but this suited him just fine. Laying out under the stars, eating cooked fish, this was a far cry from the abuse that he had to deal with back in Konoha, where he wasn't even allowed in stores or restaurants. And he hadn't been beaten yet. On top of that, he was getting shinobi training!

Electing to use one of Hidan's favorite words, Naruto summed up his thoughts about his old village with the mental shout of, 'Fuck Konoha…'

He looked over to where his silver-haired teacher was sharpening the blades of his scythe. The man was sitting with his back against a tree, his scythe resting on his lap. If it hadn't been for the nukenin coming across him when he did, he probably wouldn't be alive right now…

"Hey Hidan," he called out.

The man looked up from his current task, arching one eyebrow in curiosity. "What is it kid?"

"Um…" crap, he never _was _good with words. He was only seven for crying out loud! "I uh, wanted to say… thanks, for saving me a few days ago."

With a snort, the man resumed his work, keeping his favorite weapon in top condition. "Whatever, don't sound so grateful. You would have just been another stain on my scythe if Jashin-sama hadn't told me not to."

Well _that _was slightly disturbing news… but nonetheless it did not change the fact that he _had _saved him from certain death. For that, he would be eternally thankful for his scythe wielding, death-loving savior.

This led to another thought though. He kept mentioning this Jashin, person. Hidan had explained that his immortality was due to Jashin, and that he followed his… _its _orders. But he had never _seen _Jashin. Was Hidan just crazy? No, that couldn't be it, because crazy people weren't as sensible as Hidan was. Well… sensible might not be the best word. He was _decent _enough.

"Hidan, what is Jashin li-"

"Sama," the man interjected. "Jashin-_sama. _I may not be a fan of suffixes, but you _will _show Jashin-sama proper respect," he remarked, pointing his scythe at the boy that sat across from him. 

Nodding to show that he understood, the blonde tried again. "Um… what is Jashin-_sama _like? I've never seen him before, and you haven't told me much about him."

Ah, so the boy _was _interested in learning about Jashin-sama. "Jashin-sama is the lord of all. It is by his will that we live or die. He rewards his faithful followers, and curses his enemies. To show my loyalty to him, I offer him the sacrifice of heathen shinobi. When he receives the necessary amount of sacrifices, his strength shall be restored and he shall once again walk the earth."

The blonde sat, listening intently. Essentially, Hidan was saying that Jashin-sama was much like Kami-sama, except for the sacrifices part. While that was a little unnerving, it still kept him interested. 

"So, you want to become a follower of Jashin-sama?" the nukenin inquired, grinning at the blonde's reaction. He sat with his mouth agape, pointing to himself.

"Me?" he squeaked. 

Hidan nodded. 

"Would… would I become immortal like you?" he asked, waiting in trepidation for his answer.

"If you are devout and true to Jashin-sama, immortality will be one of your rewards, yes."

"YATTA!" he cried out, jumping up and down in excitement. 

"But," the nin threw out. "That will only happen if you can commune with Jashin-sama."

"How do I do that?" the blonde inquired, head tilted to the side in puzzlement.

"I'll show ya later. Get some sleep, we're traveling more tomorrow," Hidan informed his student.

While he was disappointed at the nukenin's answer, he did as he was told and laid down. He began to wonder what they would be doing the next day, and was curious about _how _he would go about the task of speaking with Jashin-sama. No matter the difficulty, he _would _do it.

X-X-X-X-X

"Get up kid, it's time to go."

Rubbing at his eyes, Naruto looked around to see what was going on. It was still relatively dark, the sun's first rays only _barely _making their way over the tree tops. 

"Do I have to…?" the blonde groaned, rolling onto his side.

Hidan grunted in response. "Either you get up, or I leave your ass here, simple as that."

Grumbling in protest, Naruto sat up and stretched his tired limbs. His mop of blonde hair was as disheveled as it was the day before. Getting up, the jinchuuriki looked at Hidan expectantly. 

"What about breakfast?" he asked, crossing his arms, glaring at the scythe wielder.

'Geez, he's a pretty bold little shit when he's hungry,' Hidan noted.

"You'll get breakfast when we get to a town," he informed the blonde.

"That could take forever!" the boy shouted indignantly. 

Shaking his head, Hidan began his trek through the woods, his young companion hot on his heels, still shouting about breakfast. The boy would have to become accustomed to such a routine if he wanted to survive in the shinobi world.

After several minutes of walking and being bitched at, Hidan stopped at the edge of the woods, where it connected with a road. Spinning on his heel he grabbed the blonde boy by his head and pointed it at the road.

"See that?" he asked through gritted teeth. A nod. "You will get breakfast when we reach the town at the end of this road, _that _way." He jerked the boy's head so that it was pointing in the direction of that the supposed town was in. 

"But how long is that going to be?" the boy whimpered, his stomach growling loudly, demanding that it be fed.

"The faster we move, the shorter it will be," came Hidan's simple answer.

He had planned on informing the boy of _why _they were going to that town in particular, but before he could begin, the blonde had already taken off in a dead run, intent on getting some damn breakfast!

Well… now at least he knew how to get the boy moving. Mention food and he was gone. Taking off after the kid, the nukenin could only wonder what trouble the boy was going to get him in…

Two hours later they found themselves walking through the entrance of a large town. He had to give the kid credit, he had a _lot _of stamina. He ran practically the whole time, electing to take short breathers occasionally. He had expected the trip to take at least four hours. Well, they were here, and he _had _promised breakfast.

"Alright, what do want for-?" he stopped when he noticed the glazed over look in the boy's eyes. He had zeroed in on a ramen stand. 

Ramen for breakfast? It wasn't an appealing idea, but oh well. He could use a change of pace from his usual morning meal. The two made there way over and took their seats. 

Naruto had come to notice that no one seemed to care that Hidan was a missing-nin. No one seemed to care that he was here either. That was a first. No disgusted looks or threats to call a jounin, and no mobs of angry people with blunt or sharp instruments.

"What'll it be?" asked an aged man standing behind the counter of the ramen stand. 

"Two pork ramen!" the boy shouted enthusiastically.

"One Miso ramen," Hidan answered, looking at the prices next to the items on the menu. Now, he was no stickler when it came to money, but he wasn't going to go and splurge on unnecessary luxuries.

The two ate their food, but it was in anything but silence. Hidan had made an interesting discovery about the blonde sitting next to him. He was ramen's mortal enemy. The boy practically _inhaled _the stuff, only pausing to take in the occasional breath.

It was a wonder that he was only on his second… bowl? Wait a minute. If he was eating it that fast, then shouldn't he have finished by now?

It was then that Hidan noticed the rather _large _stack of empty bowls sitting off to the side of the kid.

'Sweet Jashin-sama! Where the hell does he _put _it all?!' was the thought that entered the nukenin's mind. 

With a clang, Naruto put his bowl off to the side with the others, asking for another. Hidan had to act fast, or he might as well say goodbye to all of his funds. Grabbing his scythe from the strap on his back, he wasted no time in quickly positioning it at the side of the ramen stand owner's neck.

"If you even _think _about giving him another bowl, you'll be dead before you hit the ground," he growled.

The man nodded, putting his hands in the air to signify that he had no intention of doing that any time soon. Hidan then turned his attention to Naruto, who was giving him a curious look.

"_You _have had enough. Now get up, and back _away _from the ramen stand," the nukenin commanded.

"But-"

"_NOW!_" he roared, pointing away from the stand, cutting off the blonde's protest.

Grumbling, the boy followed his command and waited for Hidan to join him. Laying out the amount that he owed the ramen chef, the scythe wielder re-deposited his weapon on his back, and made a mental note to _never _allow Naruto near a ramen stand _ever _again.

Joining the jinchuuriki, Hidan motioned for him to follow. The two then set off through the streets of the relatively quiet town. It would most likely be busy and livelier later on in the day.

They soon found themselves in front of a weapons shop. Walking inside, Naruto was in awe of the various weapons which decorated the walls of the store. Swords, spears, scythes, daggers, kunai, shuriken; it was incredible! He had never _seen _so many weapons in one place that weren't going to be used to beat him.

Walking up to the front, Hidan un-strapped his scythe and laid it out on the counter. The store owner came out from the back area and looked from the silver-haired man to the three-bladed scythe that was resting on his countertop.

"Can I help you?" he inquired.

"Yeah, I need you to fix this up a bit," Hidan informed the man, pointing to his scythe. "You know, sharpen the blades, fix any damage, that kind of thing."

The man nodded, picking up the weapon. "I can have it done in a few hours."

"Oh, and if you fuck up my weapon in any way or try and cheat me, that scythe will be the last weapon you'll _ever _see." He wanted to make sure the man understood how importantthis task was. The store owner didn't appear to be phased by this in the least however, probably because he had most likely received such threats before.

Dragging Naruto out of the store proved to be a difficult task for Hidan. Since he couldn't threaten the boy with his scythe, it was harder to get him to be cooperative. Finally, he just seized the boy by the back of his shirt and hauled him out of the shop.

The two left the town and headed back into the nearby wooded area. Handing Naruto the pouch of kunai, they resumed the training that they had been doing the previous day. The results were, predictably, about the same as they had been before. A little over half actually struck Hidan, and only a few of those had hit vital points.

When the blonde began to show disinterest in kunai throwing, Hidan sat him down and told him that they would be working on trying to get him to commune with Jashin-sama.

With a large grin, the boy sat and complied. Hidan sat across from him. "Alright, it helps the first few times if you close your eyes."

The blonde did as he was told and scrunched his eyes shut.

"Good, now try and clear your mind. Just don't think about anything."

The boy's silence served as the indicator that he was doing as he was instructed. 

"Now simply concentrate on listening, and feeling. A whisper, a nudge, anything. Tune everything else out," the nukenin commanded. It would be quite a feat if he could do it on the first try.

Naruto tried. He tried as hard as he could, hoping to feel or hear something, _anything._ But as fate would have it, nothing came. Shaking his head, the blonde began opening his eyes. But then he _did _feel something. It was a tug, and it was _strong. _Soon he found himself slipping into darkness.

Opening his eyes, he found himself in what looked like a dark and dank sewer, with water dripping somewhere in the distance. "Hidan!" he called. "Jashin-sama?"

He could feel a light breeze against his face. A breeze meant that there was a way out of this place. So, going on his gut feeling, he began following it, looking for its source. 

After what seemed like hours of wandering, he found himself in front of what appeared to be a large cage, with a paper on it that read "seal". Behind the bars was nothing but darkness. 

"Hello?" he called out again. "Hidan? Jashin-sama?"

He was answered by what sounded like a snort. A gust of wind forced him back away from the cage. Looking up, he saw two glowing red eyes looking back at him.

"J-Jashin-sama?" he stuttered. 

A loud bellow that sounded strangely like a laugh erupted from behind the cage. It quickly died down though. **"So… the jailor comes to visit…"**

Malevolent red chakra began pouring out of the cell, dimly lighting the surrounding area. Naruto could only watch in terror as the form of a massive fox became visible. Something besides its sheer size made it different from other foxes though. _This _one had _nine _tails.

The blonde managed to find his voice, if only for a moment. "A-Are you J-Jashin-sama?"

His response was a grin which showed off the animal's large, pointed fangs. With a roar the beast released a tremendous blast of crimson chakra, forcing the boy backwards, tumbling once again into darkness.

X-X-X-X-X

Hidan watched as the young blonde jerked awake, breathing heavily. His eyes were darting around, as if looking for something.

"What is it?" the nukenin inquired, wondering what had the boy in such a frantic state.

"I-Is Jashin-sama a big fox? And does he live in a sewer?" Before he could say anything else, his eyes rolled back into his head and he fell unconscious.

-End Chapter-

* * *

Draknal: There ya have it, the next chapter of my story. Many thanks to the people who decide to leave a review. And a special thanks to my beta reader, B.

Leave a review and me love you long time! I'll update when I get the chance.

P.S- Bitching need not apply.


	3. Chapter 2

**Naruto: Acolyte of Jashin**

Draknal: Ahem… upon the issue of update timing, I have no clean cut update schedule. I am a college student, and it is nearing the end of the semester, and as such I have many tests and papers, and projects, etc, that need to be completed. School comes first, writing second. However, I'm glad to see so many people are enjoying this.

I would like to address one thing however. Many people have asked me when Tayuya will be appearing. Soon enough people. Soon enough. Rest assured, I don't plan on taking half the story to get to her. There, now stop asking me!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of its characters, just the plot of this story.

* * *

**Chapter 2**

Konoha was in an uproar. It was gone! The demon was finally gone! News of Naruto's disappearance had spread like wildfire when ANBU were unable to locate him after the Kyuubi festival. The majority of the population had decided to celebrate the removal of the plague on their village. They and their children could finally live in peace, without the imminent threat of the demon boy.

Some however, the ninja population, were not so sure that this was the case. ANBU had found the corpses of a Jounin and two Chuunin in the woods just on the outskirts of the village. They had theorized that the Kyuubi brat had obviously been manipulated by the beast and had killed them. How else could a seven year old civilian defeat three seasoned ninja?

The Sandaime Hokage let out a sigh as he sat back in his chair. There was no way Naruto could have killed those Konoha nin. People speculated that he used the power of the Kyuubi. If that was the case, every ninja in the village would have felt the enormous release of power. As it stood, nothing of the sort had been felt during the festival. It was likely that there had been an outside source involved in the murder of the Konoha shinobi. But if that were the case, wouldn't they have killed Naruto as well?

The aged ninja took a puff from his pipe. What if he had been abducted? What if he had been whisked away by someone who _knew _that he possessed the fox? Or what if they had just killed him and disposed of the body?

Sarutobi shook his head, not allowing the last thought to be dwelled on any longer. They would not do that for a child civilian, but leave the corpses of ninja. Any decent shinobi knew that the disposal of one body meant the disposal of _every _body.

Tilting his head to the side, the Sandaime looked over at the picture of his predecessor, the deceased fourth Hokage. "Minato, what would you think if you could see us now?" he pondered aloud.

He wanted to send out a search party to find the missing jinchuuriki, but there was no point to it. Any party that went after the boy would most likely be one with the orders of "kill on sight." How pathetic… people allowing their fear of a demon to become so great that they would blatantly disregard the child that served as its jailor and see only the demon itself.

In all likelihood, the blonde _had _been abducted. He allowed a wry grin to make its way to his face. 'Hopefully you will have a better life wherever you are now, compared to what you had here in Konoha,' he mused. 'Be safe Naruto.'

X-X-X-X-X

The course of one week had proven to be a strange trial of sorts for Hidan. He had been pushed continuously to the edge of his relatively short temper, a few times contemplating the death of a certain blonde brat. The boy just did _not _know how to shut up at times! After his first attempt at contacting Jashin, he had asked the scythe wielder two surprisingly odd questions.

Both questions concerned the very entity he had been trying to communicate with. While Hidan had never _seen _Jashin before, he was positive that he was _not _a large nine tailed fox, and that he didn't live in a sewer. Truthfully, he did not know what to make of the kid's "vision."

A sewer with a giant fox being held behind bars… you don't just make up shit like that. Perhaps he simply had a hallucination from having eaten too much ramen? That had to have been it, just a bad case of indigestion.

After the silver haired man informed the boy that Jashin was _not _a fox, and that he did _not _live in a sewer, he was immediately assaulted by other inquiries.

What is the fox? Does it have a name? Why is it behind bars? Is it a bad fox? Does is it eat people? Is it a magic fox, since it could talk? Why is it in a sewer? Did someone flush it down a toilet because they didn't love it as a pet? How did it get so big? And so on…

The blonde had ceased asking questions when he noticed that his instructor was twitching slightly, a shaking hand caught halfway toward his scythe, as he struggled internally.

'Must… not… kill… boy…' had been the mantra going through his head at the time. He had contemplated suicide, but _that _was in vain thanks to Jashin so graciously providing him with immortality.

The nukenin chuckled, thinking back to that day. It had taken all of his self-restraint to keep from skewering the boy where he stood. That, and Jashin would not have been pleased with him if he had gone through with it.

However, he and Naruto had established a few ground rules when it came to questions. First, don't ask another question until your first one is answered. Second, Hidan is allowed to ignore or refuse to answer any of your questions, so stop asking if he doesn't answer. Third, Hidan is not held accountable for his actions if violation of any of the two prior rules occurs. Such rules had helped to reduce the number of questions that were directed his way.

At present, the two were once again on the road. Having completed his business at the village, in this case scythe repairs, Hidan saw no reason to stick around. Besides, the farther they were from the village, the farther they were from any possibility of a ramen stand being nearby.

"Hidan?"

Oh great… already with the questions. Could he not catch a break? On this particular day, apparently not.

"What is it kid?" he practically growled.

"Um…" he looked around, before scratching the back of his head.

"Out with it already!" came the man's irritated command.

The blonde jumped slightly at the man's outburst, but continued to keep pace with him. He stared down at the road, watching it pass under him as he walked.

"Do you think I was just dreaming when I saw the fox?" the boy inquired softly.

'The fox again… of all things,' the nukenin thought with disdain.

"Look, I already told you, it was probably a bad case of indigestion or food poisoning or something. Do you honestly think a giant fox with nine tails could possibly exist?"

Naruto didn't answer him. He just continued looking down at the ground, observing the path they were on. This was a bit surprising. He had figured the boy would have just shook his head, agreed, and laughed.

"Well, there _was _a big fox like that," he answered matter-of-factly.

Hidan looked down at the boy, an eyebrow raised in slight curiosity, and skepticism. _This _he had to hear. "Really now? Why don't you tell me _all _about it."

The blonde grinned his large idiotic grin, happy to be the one telling a story for once. "Well, oji-san told it to me, so I don't know if it's really true or not."

The scythe wielder didn't particularly care whether it was true or not. He just wanted to hear the damn story! If it would get the kid to shut up about the fox afterwards, then by all means he'd listen as long as he needed to.

"Seven years ago there was a giant fox that attacked my village, Konoha. It had nine tails, and was _really _powerful, 'cause it was a _demon _fox called the Kyuubi," the seven year-old elaborated, making gestures with his arms to go along with the words.

"Nobody knows why it attacked us, but we tried to stop it, and we didn't do very good. But then our Hokage, the Yondaime, killed it! But, he died too. So now every year the village celebrates the death of the fox." He frowned at the last part, remembering what happened to him on previous festival years.

Hidan was barely able to keep from laughing at the boy's story. It was so farfetched! A giant demon fox that attacks a village. An _entire _village of shinobi couldn't stop it, but then their leader just up and kills it, and somehow dies too. It sounded like an anti-climactic, melodramatic, child's bedtime story.

Noticing his companion's silence once again, he looked over to find the boy with his brows furrowed and fists clenched. 'Oh, so he _can _do anger,' the nukenin thought to himself.

It was a rare occurrence that Naruto showed anything other than happiness, goofiness, or sadness. This was the first time Hidan had seen him slightly irked about something.

"What's got you so pissy?" he inquired, a grin making its way to his face as the question seemed to snap the boy out of his thoughts.

"Huh?"

Hidan could only sigh. "Kid, don't play dumb with me. You were in a bad mood a second ago, so spill already."

"Well, every year on the Kyuubi festival, the villagers would attack me… and I don't know why. I never did anything to them! They would call me 'demon' and hurt me!" he sobbed, tears flowing freely down his face.

"Oh for the love of Jashin-sama…" the silver haired man muttered. He was _not _cut out to deal with this childhood trauma crap. "Stop your whining kid. We all have to deal with some fucked up stuff. Besides, it's not like you have to put up with their shit next year, right?"

The blonde let the man's words sink in, as his crying dwindled down to sniffling and a desperate attempt to keep more tears from spilling. Hidan was right. He wouldn't be _in _the village this upcoming year, so he had nothing to worry about. And even if they tried to come get him, Hidan would protect him!

The seven year-old allowed a shaky, half-sure grin to come to his face. "I guess… you're right. But still… I don't know why they hated me so much…" he mumbled, occasionally sniffling.

"Some people are just fucked up. Who knows," came his companion's response. 'How ironic that I'd be the one to say that,' he thought with a mental sneer. Memories of the slaughter of his village came to mind.

"Ah, good times," he chuckled. He _did _leave the civilian population alone. Jashin saw no gain in killing innocents. However, if you were a shinobi, then you were fair game. Well… occasionally that rule was made to be broken, as in Naruto's case when he had first found him.

Hidan had _not _been in a good mood at that time, so when he came across some foreign shinobi, _that _made his day. Nothing made him feel better than indiscriminant slaughter, so to _hell _with not killing innocents! On any other day though, sure, he'd leave civilians alone. There wasn't much enjoyment in killing them anyway. _Threatening _them, however, was far too much fun to pass up.

Satisfied for the moment, the blonde allowed the silence to settle back between them as they continued with their journey. He didn't need to ask where they were going, as his silver-haired ally had already informed him when they first departed their camp site. Tea Country, he'd said.

When asked _why _they were going to Tea Country, his answer had been that it was nowhere near Konoha or Ame, which was a good thing, considering how Hidan had killed off four of their shinobi. The last thing he wanted was more nin coming after the bounty on his head. It wasn't that he was worried they might defeat him, it was that they were becoming a nuisance.

It seemed that every time he turned around there was a cocky team of shinobi confronting him and boasting about how strong they were and how they'd kill him and claim the reward. All of them had made a very nice sacrifice for Jashin.

With the hopes of fewer bounty hunters, he had determined that their destination would be Tea Country. A nice bonus was that its population was smaller than that of Fire Country, so there was less chance of collateral damage while training Naruto. After all, who would mind if the land got destroyed if no one was around to care?

Speaking of training, the two of them simply walking along like this definitely wasn't doing anything to help the boy along on his path to becoming a valuable follower of Jashin.

He would have taught the boy how to use jutsu, but his chakra reserves were most likely too small for that. He doubted if Naruto would even be able to do a simple technique like create a bunshin. In that case, they would simply have to work on enlarging his reserves first. But how to go about doing that…

Hidan let out a sigh as he scowled at nothing in particular, glancing around at all the trees surrounding the path they were on. He was not a teacher damnit! It's not like he had a lesson plan for training brats on the most basic of things. Once again, he'd have to improvise.

You strengthen your chakra reserves in a similar manner to how you would increase muscle mass, except in this case they were dealing with reserves and chakra coils. By straining them they would be partially destroyed, and then they would rebuild themselves stronger than before. This meant that he'd need a chakra control exercise of some sort to do this.

In a way this would kill two birds with one stone. He would be working on his control, _and _he'd be increasing the amount of chakra that his body could store. Now what to have him do? A sudden idea coming to mind, Hidan grinned at his stroke of genius. Drawing his scythe he slashed off two small branches from a nearby tree.

His companion was staring at him with a quizzical expression, his head tilted slightly to the side. Returning his weapon to his back, Hidan handed one branch to Naruto, then held the other out in front of himself. He made sure that the blonde was watching before he began.

Channeling a small amount of chakra into the object, the branch began to glow slightly. Then, one by one, the leaves on the branch began to disintegrate, soon leaving the inanimate piece of tree barren. Looking to see his student's reaction, he found the boy slack-jawed and staring at him in amazement.

"Wow! How did you do that?!" he practically shouted, excitement radiating off of him.

The nukenin mentally patted himself on the back. Kids were so easy to impress that it wasn't even funny. It was downright hilarious! Show them a useless little trick and they go nuts.

"You remember how to use your chakra?" Hidan inquired.

He received a vigorous nod. Good, at least he had been paying attention through the lesson. Throwing kunai was great and all, but if the kid wanted any chance of becoming a shinobi he'd have to practice with his chakra. The silver haired man had come to realize this, and as such, had spent part of the previous week teaching Naruto the basics of chakra and how to channel it.

He didn't actually have him try it on an inanimate object though, so there was no telling how this would work out.

"Well just channel a bit of your chakra into the branch. Try to concentrate on _where _you want it to go. You want to send it _through _the branch and into the leaves, got it?" he asked, waiting for a response.

Once again Naruto nodded. With nothing else to be told, the blonde turned his attention to the branch he had been given. He held it out in front of him, like Hidan had done, and then proceeded to engage it in what looked like a staring contest.

The scythe wielder had to bite back a laugh. The kid looked ridiculous, staring at the branch like he was trying to mentally drill holes into it. He was concentrating so hard that he didn't even notice that he was starting to fall behind slightly.

Said blonde was still trying to remember how to do what Hidan had taught him. He allowed his mind to be completely focused on the item in his hands. He dug deep into his very being, until he felt the flow of warmth throughout his body. Slowly, he willed it through his arms, into his hands, and finally into the branch he held. The branch soon took on a bluish glow. That was it! Just a bit more…

**BANG!**

The sound had been so sudden and loud that it caused Hidan to jump. Whirling around with his weapon at the ready, he had expected to see attackers or an ambush of some kind. All he found though, was a slightly disgruntled, and mostly surprised Naruto. The seven year-old's eyes were wide, and in his hands remained nothing more than a fractured remnant of the branch he once had held. The blonde was also adorned in shredded leaves, compliments of the destroyed tree limb.

"What the fuck did you just do kid?" he asked, once again returning his scythe to the strap on his back.

"I did just what you told me to!" the whiskered boy protested, trying to avert the blame for the mishap from himself.

Reaching out, the nukenin snapped off a branch from another tree, before handing it to his traveling companion. "Do it again," he commanded.

"Huh?" came the boy's ingenious reply.

"Do exactly what you did before. Think you can handle that?" he asked with sarcasm tagged on at the end.

The boy frowned at Hidan's tone, but nodded nonetheless. He would show him that it _wasn't _his fault the branch exploded.

Concentrating once again on the object he held, Naruto allowed his chakra to flow to its intended destination. It traveled through his body and into the branch.

Hidan watched with interest as the blonde managed to channel his chakra correctly. It was a bit surprising that he was capable of it so well at such a young age. So far it looked good. The branch was glowing slightly, and the amount of chakra continued to increase in the tree limb.

Something changed though. He noticed the amount of chakra coming from Naruto spike as the branch glowed even brighter, before…

**BANG!**

The nukenin had to shield his face with his arm as splintered tree came flying his way. Well that certainly helped to clear up a few things.

"You're using _way _too much chakra damnit!" he shouted, pulling a splinter from his arm. Once again, Naruto was covered in leaves, but he didn't seem to be injured from the small explosion. Odd… but it meant that he was correct in his theory.

The shinobi-in-training was _definitely_ using too much chakra. The other thing it meant was that he was _pushing _his chakra out, rather than simply letting it flow, which would explain why the explosion blew outwards away from him. The force of the chakra buildup forced the contents of the mini-bomb away from him, in the same way that momentum would continue to force a person forward, even after the person pushing from behind had ceased shoving them.

Well, at least the exercise was successful… somewhat…

Hacking off another tree branch he once again handed it to Naruto. "Keep trying to do what I showed you until it doesn't explode," he instructed.

How was it that he was able to channel too _much _chakra into the branch? Maybe he had simply forced it all out, which would prove that his control was pretty crappy.

**BANG! **"Darn it!"

Casually he handed the boy another tree limb, still musing on what he had found. Well if his control was crap, it either meant that he just naturally had shitty control, since he was so young. Or-

**BANG! **"I almost had it that time!"

With an irritated groan he handed the boy yet another branch, before massaging his temples. This kid was just proving to be one big headache. 'Why Jashin-sama? Why?' he asked himself.

Back to his previous thought. It either meant he had naturally shitty control, _or_, the more unlikely scenario, he had an overabundance of chakra. But _that _was entirely impossible. 'He's seven years old for Jashin-sama's sake!'

**BANG! **"Grr… stupid branch!"

This went on for the better part of two hours, as the two companions continued their trek towards Tea Country. Hidan had come to discover something about his blonde traveling partner in that time. Even _he _had a breaking point with his temper.

After many fruitless attempts at completing the chakra control exercise, Naruto had ceased his efforts. When asked why, he responded with, "Because the stupid branch keeps blowing up!"

The blonde then crossed his arms and pouted.

Chuckling at his young associate's plight, Hidan found himself wondering what they could do to pass the time instead. It had been entertaining listening to the boy's futile chakra control attempts. He was also thankful, for he was certain he'd need a new cloak now. Being bombarded with wood splinters in the back repeatedly tends to do some damage.

Silence had settled over the group now that exploding pieces of wood were no longer a factor. The scythe wielder wondered how long that would last. Naruto was simply too energetic to just _shut up _for long. Speaking of energetic, it would seem that he had been _wrong _about the boy's chakra reserves. For a seven year-old, they were _enormous. _He was able to continuously attempt the chakra control exercise for two hours straight! In fact, the only reason he had stopped was due to frustration. The question now was…

'Where the hell does he get it all from?'

This had plagued Hidan's mind for the better part of half an hour. A kekei genkai perhaps? No, he was too young to have unlocked something like that. Was he simply a freak of nature? Perhaps. He was actually leaning towards that idea.

The blonde in question was currently fiddling with his hands, looking over in his companion's direction from time to time. "Hidan, I'm bored."

The nukenin looked to the boy who had addressed him. "What the fuck do you want me to do about it? Entertain yourself."

"But I don't know what to _do_," he whined, childishly dragging out the word "do."

"Why don't you try the chakra control exercise again?" the silver haired man inquired.

The blonde scrunched up his face, showing distaste towards the suggestion. "That's no fun, 'cause the stupid branch keeps blowing up! I want to do something else!"

Hidan did _not _want to have to put up with this for the rest of the trip, so he decided to go with the idea of throwing out random suggestions. "Practice your kunai throwing. I swear to Jashin-sama you still suck at that."

"Nuh-uh!" the blonde protested. "I hardly miss anymore!"

He was correct in his claim. Over the course of one week, Hidan had helped him to fine tune his throwing. Out of thirty kunai, he could nail a target from one hundred feet away with at least twenty eight of them. That was with a _stationary _target though. In the shinobi world, it was extremely rare that your target would sit around and wait to be killed.

"Yeah, you hardly miss," Hidan agreed.

The seven year-old sneered in triumph, crossing his arms smugly.

"…when the target isn't moving," the rose eyed man added. "I'll bet you couldn't hit a mobile target that knows how to dodge," he challenged.

Considering this, Naruto absentmindedly allowed his hand to travel to the kunai pouch at his hip. "I bet I could hit a moving target," he mumbled.

'So, he's up for the challenge, eh? Might as well put his skills to the test,' Hidan thought with slightly sadistic grin.

"Then why don't you try to hit _me,_" the nukenin suggested.

The boy shrugged indifferently. He probably _could _hit him, if he tried, but there was no incentive. Seeing this, the scythe wielder came up with a _risky _plan to motivate Naruto.

"If you can hit me _once_, then at the next town we find I'll buy you some ramen."

No sooner had the words left his mouth, a kunai whizzed past him, barely an inch from his face. His companion had already snatched out another of the tiny projectiles from the pouch he had given him. How he had managed to do so, so quickly, he would never know. All he knew was that if he wanted to hold on to the remainder of his money, he would have to use every trick he had to avoid getting hit.

Naruto's eyes gleamed with determination as he stared down his prey. This wasn't a game or a challenge anymore. It was the key to a meal of the Gods. He _would _prevail.

Knowing that standing still probably wasn't the best course of action, Hidan bolted down the road as fast as his legs would carry him. Looking back for a moment, he found that the blonde ramen consumption machine known as Naruto was hot on his tail. He was faster, had a longer gait, and had shinobi training for Jashin-sama's sake, yet some supernatural force was giving the boy the power and speed he needed to keep up with him.

"Well at least this will prove to be entertaining," Hidan mumbled, sidestepping another thrown kunai. All he had to do was wait for Naruto to run out of kunai. However, he failed to notice what the boy was doing to rectify that problem.

The blonde wasn't foolish. He knew he had a limited supply of projectiles, and as such he would have to use them wisely and effectively. To do this, he made sure that he was directly _behind _Hidan when he launched them, that way if and when they missed, they would simply continue to go straight, and fall down onto the road, where Naruto could reach down and grab them as he ran past, effectively restoring his weapon count.

Some of the kunai that missed happened to fly off into the woods though. Those would just have to be ignored and counted among the losses, meaning he'd have to use the remaining ones more carefully. This was going to be a _long _trip.

X-X-X-X-X

Nemasu Shirai was not having a good day. First, he was stuck going on some stupid B-rank diplomacy mission to a country that he wasn't even sure _why _Konoha gave a rat's ass about. He _hated _diplomacy missions because, in the end, it boiled down to acting as a messenger boy. He was a Chuunin for Kami-sama's sake! He was supposed to be leading teams into enemy territory and stealing vital information or performing assassinations! Work like this was meant for grunts, the Genin.

"As soon as I get back I'm gonna give that old prune a piece of my mind," the shinobi muttered. Of course, this wasn't true. He wasn't stupid enough to complain about the Hokage's decisions in mission selections… directly to his _face _that is. However, thinking about doing such a thing helped to ease his anger.

Tea Country was such a _boring _place. The number of ninja he had encountered there were very few and far between, and none of them had been hostile, further proving his point about how lame diplomacy missions were.

Hopping from tree to tree, he figured he was making good time. He had been keeping a fast pace for the past four hours, so it wouldn't be long before he made it to the Tea/Fire border. However, it seemed as good a time as any to take a break.

Sitting down on one of the larger, sturdier tree branches, he leaned back against the trunk of the tree, letting one leg hang off to the side and dangle. He wanted to close his eyes and rest, but he knew if he did he might fall asleep, and that would only delay his return further.

_**Thunk**_

Looking down at the base of the tree he was resting in, the Chuunin found that a kunai had become lodged in it. Immediately he sprang to his feet and began looking around for any possible threats. Perhaps the mission wouldn't end up being so boring after all.

He could sense two chakra signatures nearby. One was relatively high, around Jounin level, and the other was quite low, probably that of a Genin.

Pumping chakra into his legs, he leapt from tree to tree as quickly, but stealthily as he could. Gazing down at the road that cut through the large forest, the Konoha nin began to assess what he saw.

A man with silver hair and a scythe with three blades was backpeddling, while blocking kunai that were being thrown at him. The person _throwing _the kunai was even more interesting. A _kid, _perhaps no older than eight or nine, was launching the weapons with a great deal of precision, while running _at _the man he was trying to hit.

The first question that ran through his mind was, 'What is wrong with this picture?'

Wait a minute… that kid seemed awfully familiar. Blonde hair… blue eyes… whisker marks?! It was the Kyuubi brat! So, he wasn't dead after all… well in a minute or so he most likely would be. If he was reading the older combatant correctly, he was just toying with the kid. Once he took to the offensive though…

The Chuunin allowed a predatory smile to come to his face. This was about to get bloody.

X-X-X-X-X

Launching another kunai at Hidan, Naruto watched as it was deflected with a swing from the man's scythe, sending the projectile whizzing off into the woods somewhere. He mentally cursed his luck as he checked his kunai pouch. He was down to his last few, less than a dozen.

Throwing another of the pointed weapons, he wanted to laugh in triumph as it struck Hidan in the chest. However, his victory was short lived as the man in question poofed out of existence, leaving an impaled log in its place.

'Dang! I was _sure _I got him that time,' the blonde mentally groused.

The question now was, where did Hidan get to? Hearing a sound in the bushes off to his right, he hurled a kunai into them. A squirrel darted out of the offending bush, glaring at its attacker before running off. Crap. Well there went another kunai.

A chuckle from behind him made Naruto jump and spin around, a kunai at the ready. There, no more than a foot away from him stood Hidan, with his scythe resting over shoulder.

"I'll bet you're running low on those things," he snickered, pointing at the boy's kunai pouch. The blonde responded with a glare, preparing to renew his assault on the nukenin.

Dashing forward, Naruto threw not one, but _two _kunai this time. His target had been quite surprised, to say the least. Blocking the first of the projectiles with his scythe, he barely noticed the second kunai that was heading his way. With split second timing he ducked under the weapon, then retaliated by striking Naruto in the stomach with the butt of his weapon.

The seven year-old felt the air rush from his lungs, and the ground quickly raced to meet him as he collapsed, gasping for air. He could do nothing but sit on his hands and knees, trying desperately to take in large gulps of much needed oxygen. So when Hidan began to laugh at the boy's plight, he could only muster a weak, wheezy, "Screw you…"

The response only made the man laugh harder.

His laughter abruptly stopped when he realized that they were not the only ones in the area. Looking down at his student of sorts, he wondered whether he was prepared for a possibly hostile encounter.

"Hey kid, we've got company," he muttered, quietly enough so that only he and the blonde could hear. The jinchuuriki's eyes widened as he realized that there was the possibility of a fight occurring.

Slowly, breathing normally once again, the boy got to his feet and look to his teacher, hoping that he would give directions for what to do.

"You still got some kunai?" the rose eyed man inquired. The blonde nodded.

"Behind you, two trees to the left. Throw one there," he instructed. "But wait till I tell you to." Again he received a nod as confirmation.

The nukenin flipped through a few hand seals before muttering, "Now."

Spinning around, Naruto launched one of his three remaining kunai at the designated spot. He missed, but that was to be expected, as he didn't know _exactly _where his target was to begin with. It was, however, enough to get the spectator's attention, as he jumped from the tree into the road, a kunai of his own in hand.

He had expected to see Hidan launch himself at the man, but looking around, the scythe wielder was nowhere to be seen. Had he run off?! No, he couldn't have! He had been doing a jutsu, right?

Looking back to his opponent he gulped as the man began walking towards him. He looked to be in his mid-twenties, with brown eyes and long brown hair, which was tied back into a ponytail. He wore the standard Chuunin attire, and had a… _Konoha _headband. Oh crap…

"So, the little demon boy _did _survive after all," were the first words out of the man's mouth. "And where have you been hiding for the past two weeks?"

The blonde glared defiantly at his foe, choosing not to answer him.

The shinobi grinned. "That's fine. You don't have to tell me. In a minute it won't matter anyway."

With a burst of speed, the Chuunin darted forward and stabbed the kunai he held through the boy's chest. Rather than a cry of pain though, there was a puff of smoke, and in his place stood the silver haired man from before, a crazed look on his face.

"What the hell?" he shouted, before leaping back and pulling out a few shuriken.

He watched silently as the man grabbed the kunai that was lodged in his chest and pulled it out, before casting it aside. That was when he noticed something from before that he couldn't see, due to how far away he had been. The man's hitai-ate had a slash through it. He was a _missing nin. _

'Oh shit…' Shirai thought with utter distaste. 'I know I wanted excitement, but this is _not _what I had in mind.'

He soon found himself on the defensive when the scythe user leapt forward and struck out at him. The attack itself lacked in power and was poorly aimed, allowing the Konoha nin to dodge it. Intimidation perhaps? Or maybe he just didn't see him as a challenge?

The brown haired man frowned at the thought. 'He may be a missing nin, and he may be dangerous, but he is seriouslyunderestimating me!'

He flashed through a few hand signs before shouting, "**Bunshin no jutsu!**"

Where there was only one leaf ninja before, there were now five. 'They may only be illusions, but they are certainly enough to make anyone wary of which to attack.'

He found that he was _sorely _mistaken when he rushed to attack. Rather than taking up a defensive stance or trying to put distance between himself and his attackers, the silver haired nin charged forward to meet them, scythe raised high.

A quick slash forced one of the doppelgangers to disappear. Looking down at his shoulder, Hidan found that there was a decent sized cut with blood bubbling out of it. Shrugging, he looked over his opponents. They were each wielding a kunai. However, only _one _of them was covered in blood.

'Good thing I left an opening for him to get me,' he chuckled mentally. People were always a lot easier to kill when you could distinguish the true one from the clones.

Drawing his scythe back, he hurled it at the man and his copies. The spinning weapon slashed through two of them, the other two narrowly dodging out of the way.

'He's unarmed, I need to strike now!' With that in mind, Shirai and his last clone leapt at their opponent.

He was slightly surprised when the man sidestepped his attack. Using the man's momentum against him, the scytheless nukenin drove a fist into the Chuunin's gut. His body continued on its previous course, albeit with a flip, as it upended over the silver haired man's arm, before it landed on the ground with a **'thud.'**

Hidan looked over his opponent once before casually walking over to where his thrown weapon lay. The man wasn't getting up any time soon, so why make the effort to hurry?

With his weapon in hand, he approached the Konoha nin, kicking his body once to make sure he was still alive. He received a yelp in response.

"Still alive, huh? Well how did you put it earlier… in a minute it won't matter anyway." A laugh soon escaped the scythe wielder's mouth as he raised his weapon to skewer the face-down shinobi.

Rolling over just before the hit connected, the brown-eyed ninja managed to evade the attack, and at the same time retaliate. He unleashed a barrage of shuriken, each of which, being at such a close range, struck their target. Several lodged themselves in the silver haired man's chest, his neck, and even his forehead.

Rather than keeling over dead, the man continued laughing, not caring in the least that he was defying the laws of life. A second later…

_**Poof!**_

He disappeared in a puff of smoke, the weapons stuck in him clattering to the ground.

'A kage bunshin?!' Shirai though frantically, looking around for his adversary. 'I've been fighting a clone this whole time?'

Getting to his feet, he pulled out a kunai and took up a defensive stance. Maybe if he could sense him before he attacked he'd have a chance!

The ground behind him suddenly exploded upwards, a single shinobi rising up out of it. With the same maniacal grin from before, Hidan slashed the back of his enemy's legs, slicing the back of the man's knees. With a cry of pain, the Konoha nin fell to the ground.

"Now, I'm no medic nin," the scythe user started, tapping his weapon against his shoulder, "But I'd say you aren't going to be standing up any time soon."

He was right. That scythe had slashed the tendons and ligaments in the back of his legs. It seemed as though this was it…

Movement in a tree above him forced the Chuunin to look up as best he could. There he spotted yet _another _Hidan, who was holding the demon boy by the collar of his shirt. Leaping down next to the first Hidan, the man set down the blonde with him, then poofed out of existence.

'I can still kill the demon… I may die, but at least I'll be the savior of Konoha!' the vest wearing nin roared in his mind.

Propping himself up on an elbow, he drew his arm back to throw his projectile at the boy. He would have succeeded, had Hidan's foot not come crashing down on the man's arm. A _**snap **_was elicited from the arm, along with an agonized scream. It would seem as though he'd have to rethink his plan.

Uncomfortable with the situation, Naruto quickly scurried behind Hidan, where he was sure he'd be safe. Poking his head out from behind the nukenin, he looked down at his _would be _attacker. To his dismay, the man was glaring at him with murder in his eyes.

The blonde's companion noticed the exchange. "Ah, why are we so hostile towards the kid here?" he inquired glancing from one to the other.

The Chuunin's answer was simply silence. Tearing his eyes away from the "demon", he lowered his head and waited for the end to come.

With a sigh of aggravation Hidan proceeded to kick the man once again in the ribs. "None of this silent treatment bullshit," he growled. "You're gonna answer a few questions. In return, I won't kill you."

"I have nothing to say to you," the vested man spat. "If I did you'd just kill me anyway."

The scythe wielder rolled his eyes. Why did people always have to assume he was a stereotypical missing nin? Flipping his scythe once, he brought the bladed edges down on the man's back, before slowly dragging it back. The Konoha nin cried out again.

"If you _don't _talk I _will _kill you."

It came down to a matter of honor or survival… talk and live, but be disgraced, or hold your tongue and be killed. 'Fuck honor…' Shirai thought, while trying to ignore the wounds that had been inflicted on him. 'I want to live!'

"Fine…" he mumbled.

Hidan smiled inwardly, happy that he would actually get some _answers. _"Alright. What's a Leaf nin doing all the way out here?"

"Messenger mission…" he gasped out, his wounds beginning to burn with pain.

The rose eyed man seemed to accept this answer. After all, he could care less why this guy was running around so far from his village. The fact was, he _was _out there.

"Next question. What's the deal with the kid? You got a problem with him?"

The shinobi's eyes wandered over to where the boy in question was hiding. "You mean the _demon _child," he growled, his voice laced with venom.

"Yeah, sure. Now spill. What's your problem with him?"

"My problem?" he whispered. "My problem?! That _thing _should have been killed _long _ago! It has been nothing but a menace, waiting to kill us all!" he finished, his voice rising more as he continued on.

Hidan inspected his nails with disinterest. "And why might that be? What reason could you and village possibly have to hate this brat? Well, other than the fact that he's a pain in the ass that doesn't know when to shut up," he added.

"Hey!" the jinchuuriki protested, "I'm not _that _bad!"

He received a blank stare from his companion.

"Well, I've been getting better…" he conceded.

Nemasu Shirai found himself in an odd position. He could break the Third Hokage's law, and expose _why _the boy was hated so much, or he could lie. Well, what difference would it make if he told? Who else would know that he divulged the secret?

"Seven years ago when the demon fox, the Kyuubi, attacked our village, we thought all was lost. We couldn't keep it from killing hundreds of our people and destroying our village…" he began, recalling what had happened that fateful night.

"Our Hokage, the Yondaime, arrived in time to help us. But even _he _couldn't kill the beast. So instead, he _sealed _it into a newborn child. So now… the beast lives on… waiting to strike again…" he trailed off. Not long after, he turned his hateful gaze once again to the young blonde.

Naruto stared at the man for what seemed like hours. What was he saying? That… the reason they called him _demon child, _and _Kyuubi brat, _and so on… it was because it was…

"It was sealed into _me_?" he squeaked, not believing what he had just learned.

"Yes, into _you. _And we should have killed you long ago, and rid the world of that monster!" the Chuunin roared, his resolve set.

Hidan took his time to digest this new shred of information. 'So, the kid wasn't lying. There really _was _a demon fox that attacked their village. And what's more, it's inside this kid. Very clever, Jashin-sama…'

"Well, that certainly clears up a few things. Now that you've told us what we wanted to know, you've outlived your purpose," the silver haired man elaborated. "Give our regards to Jashin-sama."

"You… you bastard! You swore you wouldn't kill me! You said you would let me go!" Shirai shouted defiantly, acting braver than he really felt. He was in no position to yell at this man. However, in his heart, he had known that it would probably come to this.

"Hey now," the nukenin started, pointing a finger at the downed shinobi. "I _never _said I'd let you go. But I'm _not _going to kill you."

The Konoha nin let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. So, he was going to be left for the vultures, a slow painful death…

"_He _is," Hidan continued on with a grin, pointing to his blonde accomplice.

The seven year-old let out a gasp. "W-What? You want me to… to k-kill him?"

His teacher nodded, before taking the kunai the vested man had dropped, and offering it to his partner. The boy shook his head, backing up slightly. "I… I don't… I couldn't… I won't!" he shouted.

"I should have known you would let the _demon _do it," the injured man mumbled, still glaring at the child.

"I'm _not _the demon!" Naruto protested. "I am not! You're lying! If what you said is true… then it's just inside. But that doesn't mean it _is _me! _I'm _me!"

Part of him didn't want to believe that such a powerful and dangerous beast resided within him. The very same beast that was the reason so many Konoha shinobi had died, including the Yondaime. But then again, if it _was _in him, then that means it had been there for seven years now.

If that was the case, then as long as it was _inside _him, it couldn't hurt anyone! That helped to give him a sense of comfort, and was probably the only reason he hadn't simply run off and started crying.

Grabbing the ninja-in-training by the wrist, Hidan dragged him over to the wounded shinobi, and placed the kunai into his hand. "Once in the neck, that's all you have to do," he instructed.

The blonde sat on his knees, looking from his hand that held the kunai, to the man he was being commanded to kill. 'Kill him? I have to… k-kill him?'

"Even if you kill me, we will still keep hunting you, _demon,_" Shirai taunted. "Konoha will not rest until you are _dead._"

"We will kill _you, _your _friends, _your _loved ones,_" he grinned, as he began to laugh. "And no one is going to help you. Not him," he motioned his heads toward Hidan, "And certainly not that old prune of a Hokage. He's protected you for too long. In fact, we should probably just kill him too, for sympathizing with the- urk!"

The Chuunin began gasping for air as blood poured from his neck. A coughing fit overcame him as he spat up his life essence. Shortly after his body began to convulse, before it finally lay still, the light leaving his eyes…

And there, next to him, sat Naruto, a determined look upon his face, his brows furrowed, his hand still holding on to the kunai which was lodged in the man's neck. It was one thing to insult him. But when you insulted the Sandaime, the only person to ever care for him, then you've gone _too _far.

Hidan nodded, smiling at the boy's work. "Not bad kid. Your first kill, at age seven."

His words hit home. Naruto instantly withdrew his hand from the weapon as if it had burned him. He looked from his hand, which was covered with blood, to the corpse of the man he had just killed. The blonde wanted so much to just break down and cry, but something wouldn't let him. Perhaps it was the realization that he was going to be a ninja, and that he would _have _to kill.

"Well, I guess he won't be needing this anymore," Hidan mused as he reached down and plucked the hitai-ate off of the corpse's head. He tossed the shinobi-ware to the boy he had been traveling with for two weeks. "Here kid, it's yours now."

Naruto caught the item and looked it over. 'A Konoha hitai-ate…'

He was caught off guard when the scythe wielder he had come to know as a teacher walked over and handed him a kunai as well. "You've made your first kill, so you've earned this. Now, let the world know what you are." He pointed to his own hitai-ate for emphasis.

Nodding in understanding the blonde took the offered kunai, and carefully, as not to cut himself, he made a slash through the Leaf symbol on his protective headpiece. When he was certain that he had done his job well, he took the item and placed it on his head, positioning it so that it held back his untamable blonde spikes.

"Now that this has been taken care of, we should probably move on and…" the man's words seemed to trail off, getting quieter and quieter. But, he wasn't moving anywhere. And Naruto could _see _his lips moving, so why couldn't he hear what he was saying?

Suddenly a whisper of some sort made its way to his ears. Slowly, it began to get louder and louder. Yet, he still couldn't understand what was being said. It was as if it was on the edge of his senses, yet it was piercing his mind.

Falling to one knee the blonde clutched at his head. "Hidan, there's a voice in my head!" he screamed. "Make it go away!"

The voice only continued to whisper, each word unintelligible to him. It was as if all of Konoha, all of the _world _was yelling at him, the roar of the voice taunting him, ordering him, comforting him, doing all of those things and more.

Looking up for a moment, he saw Hidan looking down at him, and he was _laughing! _

"Stop… please," he pleaded, hoping the tormenting whisper would leave him be. "Stop it! Just leave me alone! _STOP IT_!"

With that, all became quiet. The whispers died, vanished, disappeared, as if whisked away by some unseen force. All he felt then was a mild tug in the back of his mind, which sent a chill down his spine.

"Well, you done now?" asked a slightly curious Hidan.

"Hidan…" the seven year-old began, unsure of whether or not he wanted to know the answer. "W-What was that?"

The man smiled, crossing his arms. "_That_ was Jashin-sama. You finally did it. He has accepted you as one of his followers. Looks like killing someone helped to get his attention. Your head's probably hurting like a bitch right now, right?"

The blonde nodded, dumbstruck that he had just been accepted by the very being he had been trying to contact for a week. "So… what does this mean?" he inquired.

"This _means,_" Hidan grinned, "That _now _the real training can begin.

-Chapter End-

* * *

Draknal: Damn. Once again, sorry for the wait and all that. On a plus side, by waiting longer, you got a longer chapter. Up next we have a time skip! Please just be patient for my next update. I'll get around to it when I can.

Leave a review please! I know it would make me happy to see some more positive feedback from you guys. Oh, and thanks once again to my beta reader, B.


	4. Chapter 3

**Naruto: Acolyte of Jashin**

Draknal: Well hey there! Another update has arrived, and I apologize for taking as long as I did to get it out. At this rate I'll be apologizing to my readers every chapter. I'm happy to see that more and more people are beginning to read and enjoy my story. Just kick back now and, for your entertainment, read my latest chapter.

Oh, but before that I need to answer a few questions. To start, many of the characters will be using techniques that they did not have or show in the anime and manga. This is my decision as an author, so please respect it. Hidan is not going to be a one trick ninja. There will be time skips! (Over the course of many chapters that is.) I will not time skip more than once per chapter. Hopefully, I'll keep skips to a minimum.

Next, how will the matters of Jashin and the fox be resolved? In any way I see fit. They are two separate entities, and as such I will exploit them and their powers in whatever fashion I desire. Next, please don't make suggestions for weapons and abilities and whatnot. While I appreciate your efforts, I'd like to stick to my own ideas, and have for the most part already decided on what is going to happen, how, and for what reasons.

I've seen too many stories where ideas for weapons, powers, and abilities are far too outlandish for my liking, and I am trying to avoid that at all costs in my fic. The fact that authors have done such things are the results of their own decisions and I respect that. This story, anime, manga, whatever takes place in a non-existent world, so the idea of some things being unreasonable or outlandish is stupid, I know. People are entitled to their own ideas and creativity. This is my own story, and my own ideas, so I'd like it if my readers would respect that and not criticize me or my opinions. Thank you.

Whew… that took a bit to do. Anywho, on to what you are _really _here for!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of its characters, just the plot of this story.

* * *

**Chapter 3**

Three years. It was hard to believe that three years had already passed. So much time had gone by from when Hidan had first encountered the young jinchuuriki known as Naruto.

In those three years, he had gone from being a blonde brat who didn't know the first thing about being a shinobi, to a competent and rather deadly accomplice to a nukenin.

The two often found themselves in dangerous situations, being on the road and having to watch out for hunter-nin or bounty hunters who were after the reward on Hidan's head. Sometimes however, they were involved in said predicaments because of their own actions. Take now for instance.

"He's heading your way brat!"

Looking around, the blonde pulled out a few shuriken, preparing to launch them at a moments notice. His attention was turned skyward when the person they had been after leapt into the tree above him, then continued on.

Taking to the branches above, the shinobi began his pursuit of the target. He was fast, that was for sure. But it just didn't seem natural, seeing as how he should have been weighted down by his oversized weapon.

Launching his handful of shuriken, he began flashing through various hand seals. The projectiles clattered against the weapon strapped to the fleeing man's back and fell to the ground. He had expected as much.

He called out his attack as he finished the last seal. "Futon: Daittopa!"

Gale force winds proceeded to shred the trees in their way, the target receiving a few open wounds from the attack. Yet he continued to run.

'He must have used chakra in his feet to keep from flying off somewhere,' the Kyuubi container mused. "Can't you just stop running so I can kill you?" he shouted to the person ahead of him.

A coarse laugh was the only response he received.

With one more leap, the man descended from the thick forest of trees to the ground below. Naruto followed the nin's action, falling to the ground. Looking out, he found that they were now standing at the edge of an enormous river, which a few yards later turned into a waterfall.

Turning to face his pursuer, the bandaged nin drew his massive zanbato. "You've got guts kid, coming to face me like this," he stated, letting off some of his killer intent.

He took a moment to observe his pursuer. Judging his height, he'd say the boy was around 4'5". He wore a mostly black jacket, which had several areas that were instead red. He could see that under the partly unzipped piece of clothing was a fishnet shirt. Black pants and black shinobi sandals finished off his appearance.

The kid's blonde unruly hair was slightly long for someone his age, and the whisker marks on his face almost made him look like some sort of animal. It was what was holding the boy's hair _back _that caught his attention. A hitai-ate, with a slash running through its leaf symbol.

'A missing nin, this kid? He doesn't even look like he could be a genin. Oh well, shame I'm gonna have to kill him,' the man thought with a grin.

The blonde before him shrugged. "Hey, you were the one running from me. By the way, was that really necessary?" he inquired, irritated at having to run so far just to abruptly come to a stop.

"I'm no coward, if that's what you were insinuating. I just needed to get to where I could use my trump card."

Naruto couldn't be sure, but the man was probably smiling underneath his face bandages. His eyes held the same gleeful anticipation of killing that Hidan's did.

"And what might that be, Zabuza?" the blonde asked, as he drew a kunai and began twirling it on his finger.

The Mist nukenin let out a cackle as he went through hand signs, before replying, "This! Kirigakure no Jutsu!"

Not more than a second later a thick fog rolled in, obscuring the boy's view of his target. "Come on! You said you weren't a coward, yet you resort to hiding in the fucking mist!"

Dark laughter seemed to echo from all around him. "I'm a master of silent killing, boy. This just happens to make it _that _much easier."

Naruto ground his teeth in annoyance. Where was Hidan in all of this? There was no way he could have gotten lost. They were pursuing the same damn target for Jashin's sake!

Deciding to deal with that later, the whisker marked boy made a cross shaped sign. "Kage Bunshin no jutsu!"

Nine other Narutos poofed into existence. The doppelgangers each closed in around the original, creating a defensive circle. If the Mist nukenin hoped to make a successful kill, he'd have to deal with all of them. In the shinobi world, numbers weren't everything, but they sure as hell helped.

Watching for any hint of movement in the mist, the jinchuuriki found himself straining to see _anything._ Without warning one of his clones popped and disappeared. He hadn't even seen anyone…

"Ah, and I thought I had you. How disappointing," chuckled the Demon of the Mist, his voice echoing all around. "Kage Bunshin? Impressive. I didn't think a kid like you could use such an advanced technique."

Naruto knew better than to simply wait around for this man to kill off his clones. He would have to take to the offensive, and he'd need to be quick about it. The only problem was that he had no way of _finding _the sword wielder.

Charging forward with his group of clones, the blonde drew a few kunai. _Pop! _Another one vanished in smoke. At least that time he caught a glimpse of the attacker. Ordering his clones to keep going, he separated himself from the group, opting to fall back slightly.

He watched as a shadow launched itself into the group of clones, a _Poof _sounding a second later. Grinning with satisfaction, he took off after the fleeing figure of the nukenin.

He threw his barrage of kunai, hoping to nail him in the back. "Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" The few projectiles then became several dozen, all of which were dodged, when Zabuza veered quickly to the side. Spinning around, the man took a swing at his young opponent.

Dodging under the attack, Naruto attempted to catch the man with a left hook to the jaw. This proved futile, however, when he received a kick to the chest, sending him flying away from his target. Skidding on the ground, he drew another kunai, and waited for the large man to charge at him from within the mist.

A moment later, that is exactly what happened. Launching his kunai, he watched as it was deflected with a swing from the monstrous zanbato. Zabuza continued straight at the boy, performing several slashes, hoping to cleave him in two.

Being so small provided a slight advantage for the Kyuubi container. He was hard to hit, and coupled with his speed and agility, he was able to adapt a fast fighting style which most larger opponents couldn't keep up with. In the area of physical strength, he was severely lacking, which meant that if he were to become deadlocked with this man, he'd be in a real tight spot.

Dodging around the man's attacks, Naruto reached into his coat and drew two items. One was a scroll, the other a small silver orb. Hurling the device at the ground, it detonated with an explosion of smoke, making it impossible to see anything in a fifteen foot radius.

Finding an opponent in the mist was one thing, but that was only because it was his element. Leaping out of the smoke, the nukenin growled as he awaited the return of the blonde brat. When a few seconds had passed and the kid was still nowhere in sight, he found his ire growing and his patience rapidly dwindling.

Strapping his weapon to his back, he quickly went through a few hand signs. "Suiton: Daibakufu!"

Drawing on the large nearby source of water, Zabuza was able to turn it into a deadly swirling pillar of destruction, which launched itself at the still clearing smoke. Great deposits of earth were launched skyward, along with several unfortunate trees. Grinning at his handiwork, the Demon of the Mist couldn't help but wonder if he had over done it… nah!

Turning around he grimaced when he came face to face with the brat he thought he had destroyed. A shit eating grin was plastered on his face, and in one hand he held a rather nasty looking weapon of his own.

The weapon had a long shaft, made of black metal, which was about as tall as the boy holding it was. On the end, a finely sharpened blade gleamed at him. The weapon's blade was thinner near the shaft, but widened until it reached the tip, where it became smaller again and ended in a deadly upward point. Even the _back _of the blade looked intimidating, with four saw-like teeth running down it. The weapon was covered with gripping wraps in two locations, for the wielder's hands obviously. The butt of the weapon was dangerous as well, as it was adorned with a silver blade whose shape was not unlike that of a kunai.

"Well, you're certainly full of surprises," the man deadpanned.

Jumping back to avoid a slash from the naginata, Zabuza couldn't help but curse his luck. Perhaps this kid really was worthy of the title of nukenin. Of course, against a nin such as himself, he had no chance in hell of surviving.

Naruto knew that his naginata had a much farther reach than Zabuza's zanbato, but in the area of power he'd have to be careful. He would have to rely on his reach rather than straight on assaults.

Testing the waters, the blonde nukenin made several jabs at the Demon of the Mist. The attacks were either dodged or blocked by the massive weapon that his opponent was wielding. He soon found himself on the defensive, however, as Zabuza was not one to sit back and let his opponent do all the attacking.

Charging forward, the bandaged man batted away a thrust from his opponent's weapon using the back of his sword, then followed with a downward slash. The blade of Kubikiri Houcho met the shaft of Naruto's naginata with a metallic clang.

This is exactly what the jinchuuriki had been hoping to avoid, a direct deadlock. He could feel his arms tiring under the strain of holding back Zabuza's superior strength. The man's eyes seemed to take on an evil glint, as he knew victory was near.

Suddenly the larger nukenin whirled away from the struggling boy, just in time to dodge several shuriken and kunai. Naruto, who seemed to have been expecting the attack, jumped out of the way of the deadly projectiles.

Looking over his shoulder, the Demon of the Mist spotted several other Narutos, each with a determined look on their face. More Kage Bunshin?

'I knew they'd come in handy later,' the original blonde grinned. 'It was a good thing Zabuza didn't destroy _all _of the clones from earlier.'

"All of these clones of yours are really starting to piss me off kid!" shouted the Mist nukenin as he charged into the mass of remaining clones, sword raised high.

Naruto simply took this moment to sit back and watch the man off his clones. After all, it helped to study your opponent's various styles of combat.

A few seconds later all that remained of the clones were a few smoke clouds; leftover remnants from the recently popped doppelgangers. Zabuza himself didn't even seem to have broken a sweat. Turning around he fixed his gaze on his foe, who was standing with his naginata planted in the ground next to him. He just stood there with his arms crossed, as if he didn't even care about how quickly his clones had just been dispatched.

A lot of things irritated the Mist nin, but nothing did the trick like an opponent who didn't seem to take him seriously. And here was this kid, acting like he had nothing to worry about! Well, he'd just have to fix that, now wouldn't he? He was called the Demon of the Mist for a reason, and he'd have to show this kid just how scary demons could be.

Taking off at a run, he went straight for the river. Not wanting his target to get away, Naruto set off after him, his naginata in hand. Walking out on the water, Zabuza awaited his unsuspecting foe.

Water walking had been one of the more difficult techniques for Naruto to get a hang of, mostly due to his lousy chakra control. After a few years of practice though, he now had no problem with staying above the water for long periods of time.

Walking out after the man he had been trying to kill, the blonde turned and faced him. Getting into a fighting stance, his weapon at his side, he waited for the opposing nukenin to make the first move. Not surprisingly, it didn't take long for him to do just that.

It looked at first like he had snapped to attention, much like a ninja would do when a superior was around. However, most ninja didn't start going through hand signs at that point. Zabuza simply stood, keeping to his task of going through a long chain of several complex hand signs. Whatever this technique was, Naruto thought, it was going to be destructive…

"Suiton: Suiryuudan!"

No sooner than the words had left his mouth, a great geyser of water shot up from the river, before taking shape. Naruto could swear that it almost looked like a living creature, by the way it writhed and twisted around in the air. The water beast soon set its sights on the blonde, then launched itself at its target.

"Wow! That's pretty cool. I don't think I've ever seen a technique like that before," Naruto called out, his voice barely distinguishable over the roaring water.

'Too bad it has a major flaw,' he grinned. With that he began running straight at the summoned water.

'Either this kid's suicidal, or he's up to something…' the bandaged man mused, all the while keeping himself in control of the water dragon.

Right before the dragon and blonde met, Naruto channeled some of his chakra into his weapon, before slamming it tip first into the water below him. Much like water walking, the weapon acted as though it had hit solid ground, and pole-vaulted the boy into the air, over and past the dragon.

The Demon of the Mist had no time to be surprised, as the blonde descended on him, driving the blade of his weapon straight into his upper chest.

"Too bad the user of the technique is left unprotected while they focus on controlling it," the jinchuuriki chuckled darkly.

The man's eyes were wide open in shock, unable to believe that this _kid _had bested him… until he burst into water and dissipated.

It was Naruto's turn to be surprised now. 'A damned clone!' he thought frantically, as he looked around for the _real _Zabuza.

Unfortunately he failed to notice his foe as he slowly rose out of the water behind him. "Game over kid."

Whirling around, Naruto had just enough time to cry out as the Demon of the Mist ran him through with his oversized weapon. His naginata dropped from his hand into the river, most likely to be swept away. The man watched with grim satisfaction, as the blonde wasn't acting so cocky now. He began hacking, blood pouring out of both his wound and his mouth.

Hefting his weapon up, the blonde still skewered on it, Zabuza laughed. He pulled him closer so that they could talk face to face, for what little time the kid had left. "No matter how good you may think you are, there is _always _someone better, brat. I don't know why you thought you could take me on. I was kind of insulted at first. You almost gave me a run for my money though."

He was interrupted by more coughing. "Now, before you go and die, any last words?" he inquired with a bemused tone.

The blonde's response was to weakly lift one of his arms, stick up his middle finger, and then spat a glob of blood at the man.

"Ha ha ha! I like you kid. Too bad you don't have much longer in this world. I'll see you in hell I'm sure," he laughed, watching as the boy then went limp and ceased moving after that.

"Ah, I almost feel bad about doing that. Almost…" the man muttered to himself. Walking back on to solid ground, he held out his sword, then jerked it back, the boy's body sliding off of it. It crumpled to the ground in a heap.

Resting his blade on his shoulder, he was vaguely aware of another person present in the area. Looking off towards the woods he spotted a silver-haired man leaning against a tree, arms crossed. It was the same one from earlier that had been chasing him.

Pushing away from his support, Hidan approached the man who had fought Naruto. Looking down at the blonde's body he let out a 'tsk,' before returning his gaze to the Demon of the Mist.

"Too bad about the kid," Zabuza remarked, starting up conversation. "Not a bad fighter, just a bit reckless."

"Feh, he's too quick to get shit done. Does he listen to me though? Fuck no. Serves him right this time I suppose," Hidan shrugged.

"That's a pretty bleak way to look at it. Wasn't he your partner? What good is a dead tool to you?" asked the blonde's killer.

Hidan laughed. "Partner? Friend? Hell no. I'm stuck with that brat. He's getting slightly more bearable though. I just hope he's _learned _something from this," the scythe user answered, directing the last part at the boy's body.

'This guy is a little off…' Zabuza thought with agitation. 'Why do I always get stuck with the whack jobs?'

"I'm pretty sure he can't hear you," the zanbato wielder commented. "But you can tell him all of that when I end your life and send you to meet him."

The silver-haired man looked over at him, his annoyance quite obvious. "Shut up. You can spout your shit later."

Walking over to the blonde's body, he nudged it with his foot. "Get up and quit the shit already. I hope you're proud of how badly you got your ass handed to you."

When he received no response he kicked the boy with more force. "Move it," he growled.

The action elicited a yelp from the body. It quickly curled up into the fetal position, before shouting, "Okay! Okay! I'll get up! Geez, stop fucking kicking me!"

Zabuza could only stand stock still, not believing what he was seeing. Had he killed something else instead? Was it an illusion? A genjutsu perhaps? Or had he switched out at the last second with kawarimi?

Looking at his blade, he found that it was still coated in the boy's blood. Nope, he had gotten him. He then looked over at the now rising boy, noting how his jacket had been torn exactly where he had been stabbed. However, instead of him bleeding profusely, all that remained of the wound was a newly developed scar, where it had been healed up as though he had never been impaled in the first place! What the hell?!

"You got careless brat," said Hidan, amusement in his voice. "Do I have to do everything?"

"Hey, I was doing just fine!" the blonde protested. "If you had bothered to show up earlier like you were supposed to, then that wouldn't have happened! That _hurt _ya know!"

The scythe wielder merely shrugged, not caring in the least. "You were the one who told me that you wanted to handle an A-rank nukenin on your own, because you were "ready" to move up from C and B-class ones. How right you were," he mused.

"_Hey!_ How was I supposed to know the bastard could use a clone technique? I wouldn't have been stabbed if you didn't leave out that fucking _tidbit _of information!" he growled, pissed that his partner had purposely "forgotten" to mention such a thing.

Over the past three years, one of the more obvious things that Naruto had picked up from Hidan, along with shinobi skills, was his wide variety of coarse language. For his part, the older nukenin didn't particularly care. Sometimes it was funny to get into an argument with the kid, just to listen to him swear like no tomorrow.

"You heal fast, so stop bitching already, and quit with the damned yelling, you're gonna give me a headache."

When they had first discovered the presence of Naruto's remarkable healing properties, it had yielded some interesting results.

_-Flashback-_

"_Come on, just do it already," the nukenin ordered. "It won't hurt _that _bad."_

"_If you're sure…" a seven year old Naruto mumbled uncertainly. Taking the kunai in his hand, he made a small cut on the back of his hand. He grimaced as the pain made itself known._

_If he was going to be a shinobi, he was going to have to get used to dealing with pain. Self-infliction was one of the best ways to practice such a thing. Hidan himself had done it so much that he was now able to simply brush off most flesh wounds, ignoring the pain. When you kill you enemies by stabbing or maiming yourself, pain is something you need to get used to._

_Hidan raised an eyebrow. "That's it? Oh come on you fucking wimp. Here, like this."_

_Grabbing the kunai from the Naruto he rammed it into the back of the boy's hand so that the tip was protruding from his palm. His hand was now thoroughly impaled._

"_OOOOWWWWW! OW! OW! OW! Why would you do that?! It HURTS!!" the blonde cried, waving his hand around in pain._

_Seizing the boy's wrist with one hand, he grabbed the kunai with the other, before unceremoniously ripping it out. That definitely didn't help the situation any more…_

_Now the blonde was on the ground, in the fetal position, openly sobbing. "W-Why did you do that?" he cried. "It hurts so much…"_

_Hidan let out a sigh, rolling his eyes at the boy's act. "The pain will pass. Now get up, before I do it again, only it'll be your leg this time."_

_Eyes still brimming with tears, the Kyuubi container got back to his feet._

"_Now, let me see your hand. It probably only went through one or two bones," the scythe wielder remarked._

_Looking down at the recently injured hand, both persons were surprised to see that the wound was no longer pouring out blood, and it was now _healing _itself. Red chakra was gushing forth from the injury, much like the blood from earlier was. Skin was being healed, bones mended, and muscle repaired._

"_What the fuck…?" Hidan inquired ever so eloquently, his eyebrows both raised in surprise._

_Taking the kunai, he dragged it along the back of the boy's hand, then watched with curiosity as it instantly began healing itself, more of the crimson chakra coming out from wherever injury had occurred._

"_Ow! Stop it Hidan!" the blonde shouted. "That hurts you know!"_

_The addressed man sat back and watched as the chakra finished up healing the gash. "Looks like the fox gave you more than just extra chakra," he observed. "You have some pretty quick healing now too."_

'_Lucky little bastard, it takes me days to heal up injuries like that,' he groused in his mind._

_Letting his previous words sink in, Hidan grinned, his eyes taking on a mischievous gleam. He now not only had a punching bag, but one that could heal itself after every attack!_

"_Oh, this is gonna be fun…" he chuckled._

_Naruto could only gulp as the man continued to look at him in the same way that _he_ would look at ramen._

"_Training time," the nukenin called out in a disturbingly happy tone._

_-End Flashback-_

The ten year-old pouted, before looking around the area. "Hey, where'd my naginata go? Ah shit…"

Running over to the river, he looked down into the rushing water, before extending his hand towards it. Concentrating hard, he was rewarded for his efforts when his weapon flew from the water and into his waiting hand. 'Score one for chakra strings,' the blonde mentally laughed.

He grinned at his work, thankful that Hidan had taught him about using his chakra in such a way. The older nukenin had told him a while ago that throwing a weapon can help in some situations, but if you miss, you're basically shit outta luck.

As such, Naruto worked hard to develop his chakra control so that he, liked Hidan, could use chakra strings to manipulate his weapon. His control was vastly improved from what it once was, but still sucked in combat, as he was too busy focusing on the invisible threads of chakra that linked him to his weapon, allowing him some degree of indirect control over it.

Hidan had shown Naruto this ability when he first received his naginata, and the blonde instantly began begging him to show him how it was done.

Re-sealing his weapon, Naruto walked back over to Hidan, taking his place at his side. "Well since I'm so incapable of handling this situation, why don't _you _do some work for a change," Naruto challenged.

The silver-haired nukenin promptly whacked him on the back of his head. "For a change? I'm pretty damn sure I handled the last _four _missing nin we came across," he reminded his fellow Jashin-worshiper.

"Yeah, after _I _incapacitated them!" Naruto roared, angered that his ally was taking credit for _his _work.

Zabuza took this time to remind the two nukenin that he _was _still there. "What the hell are you…? And for that matter, why the hell are you killing off other nukenin?" he asked, keeping his weapon at the ready, just in case.

The two arguing shinobi looked over at the Demon of the Mist. "Oh, I forgot you were there," Naruto remarked offhandedly. Zabuza felt a tick of annoyance building after that comment.

"_He_," Hidan started, hoping to answer the man's questions, "Is a brat. And an annoying one at that." He ignored the boy's indignant yell. "As for why we're killing off nukenin… well, we gotta make money somehow. That just happens to be the quickest, and most amusing way. Sacrifices for Jashin-sama, and cash for us. Everyone wins," he elaborated.

"You happened to be in the area, so we figured we could just cash in on the reward on your head," Naruto added.

"I'm surprised no shinobi have tried to do the same to you," the bandaged man replied.

"They have, and I'm sure Jashin-sama was pleased with them as sacrifices," said the blonde, in a way that made chills run down the sword user's spine. It was clear that this kid was no ordinary shinobi…

"Well, enough with the fucking pleasantries. I'd like to get the hell out of here and on with my life, if you don't mind," said Hidan as he began walking at a leisurely pace towards Zabuza. Drawing his scythe from the strap on his back, he twirled the weapon around a few times, as if warming up.

Cautiously, the Kiri-nin backed up further into the mist that he had brought upon the area. He was feeling more and more uncomfortable about fighting these two. The kid had survived a killing blow, and now he was stuck fighting the silver-haired guy, whose abilities were unknown. It was a good thing he had one more trick up his sleeve, just in case things got really bad.

Breaking into a sprint, Hidan launched himself into the mist after his target. Naruto, who was still back where his partner had originally been, listened for the sounds of combat; clangs of metal, shouts of anger, cries of pain, anything…

The silver-haired nin attacked with a vertical slash, which Zabuza parried with his massive weapon. Pushing on the back of his sword, he managed to force the other nukenin away from himself.

With a shout of "Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu!" several copies of the Demon of the Mist formed , each with their own zanbato.

The opposing missing nin brought up his scythe and began looking from one copy to the next. 'So many copies, so little time. The question is… which one will bleed?'

All at once the group of clones threw themselves at their enemy, weapons at the ready. Leaping over the first clone's attack, Hidan brought the blades of his scythe down into the being's skull, forcing it to dissipate. Using the momentum from his attack, he spun his weapon once and brought it up to block a strike from another clone.

A glancing blow caught the nukenin in the back, but he recovered quickly and broke the offending clone's neck with a powerful roundhouse kick, ending its existence.

Two more clones attempted to catch him off guard. Both brought their weapons down upon the man, only to have their attacks blocked, each cleaver landing between two of the three blades on Hidan's scythe. With a quick twist of his wrist he turned his scythe and forced the clones to break hold of their weapons. The disarmed doppelgangers were then easily destroyed.

It wasn't a fight, it was a slaughter; granted, Mizu Bunshin only possessed a fraction of the original's strength. "I hope that wasn't all you had to offer," the silver-haired man called out into the mist. "If so that's pretty fucking disappointing."

"I only needed them to buy me some time," came the voice of Zabuza. "They did their job."

The mist suddenly became a bit thinner, making it easy for Hidan to find his target. What caught his attention was the position the man's hands were in. It looked as though he had just finished a jutsu.

"Suiton: Suishouha!"

The very earth seemed to shake. It was clear why that was, when a moment later a massive wall of water came into view, heading straight at the scythe user at high speeds.

"Fuck me…" mumbled Hidan. This was going to hurt and he knew it. Before the water could reach him, he launched his weapon at the Demon of the Mist.

If he moved to dodge it, the jutsu would be cancelled and all would be for naught. Gritting his teeth, he let the weapon hit its mark. Fortunately for him, it simply grazed his shoulder, drawing only a small amount of blood, before lodging itself in the tree behind him.

Hidan let a maniacal grin form on his face, right before the wall of water slammed into him, and began using him as a battering ram of sorts on any object that got in the wave's path. Trees, earth, rocks, and so on.

Naruto, who was far enough away, barely made it up into a tree in time to avoid getting hit by the jutsu. He could have sworn he heard Hidan as he passed by, screaming something along the lines of "Fuck that hurts!" Perhaps it was just his imagination though.

When the wave had passed, and died down, he began searching the area for his ally. He found him, wedged against a few trees in a very uncomfortable looking position. Kneeling down in front of him, he tilted his head to one side, before saying, "I'll bet that hurts. Are you okay?"

Glancing up at his student of sorts, Hidan managed a feeble, "Up yours, brat."

Getting to his feet, the man snapped his dislocated shoulder back into place with a sickening _pop!_

Rolling the newly fixed shoulder a few times, the scythe wielder looked around for his opponent, who was probably low on chakra by now. Two fights, and several high-ranked jutsu will do that to you.

Zabuza, who was busy catching his breath, looked up and grimaced. 'He's back on his feet? How the hell? This could be trouble…' he thought, the possibility of death beginning to rear its ugly head. The opposing nukenin was coming his way, and he looked a little pissed.

Extending his hand towards his scythe, Hidan pulled on the chakra strings that linked him to his weapon. With a bit of effort, the weapon dislodged itself from the tree and sailed back towards its owner.

Catching the airborne weapon, the follower of Jashin ran a finger across the blade of his weapon, collecting blood from its most recent victim. The blood was quickly absorbed into his skin.

Grinning, Hidan threw off his cloak. He began chanting, which a moment later resulted in a ritualistic rune circle appearing beneath him. His skin, as before when he used the technique, turned a black as dark as night, except for the outline of his bone structure, which made him look as fiendish as he normally acted in a fight.

"I hope you've said you prayers, 'cause this fight is over now," he called out to his exhausted opponent. "Jashin-sama, this nin is powerful, and will make an excellent tribute to you!"

Naruto envied Hidan for this ability. He had a technique that allowed him to mirror the pain and injury that he underwent, to his opponent. This ability, courtesy of Jashin, coupled extremely well with his immortality. The blonde had tried to replicate the technique, but to no avail. It seemed that every follower of Jashin received a unique ability to call their own, along with immortality. He only wished that he could figure out what _his _was.

Aware of the change his enemy had gone through, Zabuza knew that this could only mean trouble. He watched as the missing nin proceeded to stab himself in the left shoulder with his scythe. Before the Demon of the Mist could begin performing a jutsu, pain lanced through his own shoulder. It felt like he had been stabbed by that scythe…

"Now, I don't want you using any more of those damned jutsu, so we can't have you using that arm. I'm gonna be feeling that _last_ technique for a while," Hidan commented, before driving his weapon through his leg. "And I don't want you running after we've done all this work."

With a cry of pain, the bandaged nin fell to a knee, his other leg now useless. This man… his abilities… it was like he was a living voodoo doll!

Bringing up his weapon, Hidan made a move to end the pointless torment and finish his opponent. Before he could, several senbon became lodged in the scythe using nukenin's neck. Gritting his teeth in irritation, he could see his vision starting to fade. 'Fuck… I'm gonna pass out…' was his last thought before darkness claimed him, and he collapsed.

Zabuza, who was still under the effects of the technique Hidan had used, was also knocked unconscious.

Naruto, who watched the attack occur, began searching for the source of the senbon. In a tree near Hidan's now unconscious body was a boy that looked about his age, but with black hair and brown eyes. In a swirl of leaves, he disappeared, then reappeared next to Zabuza's downed body.

"Hold it right there!" Naruto shouted as he took off at top speed towards the intruder. While running, he pulled out his scroll from earlier and unsealed his naginata once again.

After the boy flashed through a few hand signs, the mist in the area began to converge on him and his friend's body. Soon they were covered in a large sphere of the substance, blocking them from view.

Just as he reached them, Naruto sliced through the cloud of vapor with his weapon's blade. The mist promptly turned into droplets of water, which fell to the ground, their masters were nowhere to be seen.

"Son of a _bitch!_" the blonde cried out. "For Jashin-sama's sake, we were so close! ARGH!"

* * *

He was pissed, and he wanted to work off his anger on something, _anything. _Even a _tree _would do at this point in time. He was rewarded however, when several shinobi landed in the immediate area.

They didn't look like any nin he had ever encountered before though. Each of them looked ridiculous, what with their camouflage scarves and outfits. They reminded him slightly of the leg and arm warmers that Zabuza had been wearing.

The _lead _shinobi, or so he assumed, due to the ridiculous looking vest he wore, turned to face his subordinates. "You see! I told you I heard something in this area."

Looking around, he noticed the varying amounts of destruction and collateral damage. How the hell? Glancing at the boy in front of him, then to the unmoving body of the other person, he couldn't help but wonder if they were responsible for this.

Naruto looked from one shinobi to the next. There were seven total, including the leader. He couldn't see their faces, as each of them wore a black mask. Well, all but _one _did, anyway. The only oddball in the group was a redheaded girl who instead opted to wear a skull cap. Why that was the case, he had no idea. She too wore the camouflage equipment, and didn't seem the least bit happy about it.

He noticed that they each wore a hitae-ate with a music note on it. He'd never seen that symbol before, and as such figured that it must be the symbol for a new village that he had yet to hear of or visit.

The Chuunin noticed the slash through the boy's headband, symbolizing that he had no loyalty to a village. Glancing over at the unconscious body, he saw a slash on that's one's hitae-ate as well. His first instinct was to deal with them and remove them from the ninja world, however…

'Lord Orochimaru _did _say he was taking in missing nin. If I bring them in, maybe I'll get a reward for my services and my success,' he thought greedily. 'And since the kid hasn't killed the other guy yet, they must be acquaintances… perfect.'

"Hey kid, any chance you and your friend would want to join the ranks of Otogakure?" he inquired, hoping that the boy would be easily coerced into agreeing. After all, he was just a kid. Surely the older guy was in charge of making decisions and whatnot.

Naruto, who wanted to just slaughter them on the spot, decided to play the "I'm just an innocent kid" routine. "Otogakure? I've never heard of that village before."

Oh, this was going to be easy. "We're a recently founded village, and have been around for about two months now. We're looking for shinobi to bolster out ranks. Interested?"

The blonde tilted his head to the side, feigning innocence. "You mean, we can have a village to call home? And we won't have to run from hunter-nin anymore?"

The Chuunin nodded, reeling the line in even more. "And on top of that, you'll even be enlisted right away as a genin. You don't have to attend an academy."

The Kyuubi container tapped on his chin a few times with his index finger. "Hmm…"

'Now for the fun part,' he grinned. "Nah. Not interested."

The man nearly face-faulted. "What? What do you mean 'no'?"

Walking over to Hidan, Naruto began removing the senbon from his neck. On a normal person, he'd have to be careful, as it could kill the person if removed without the utmost care and precision. Hidan however, couldn't die, so _that_ meant… payback for all the times the silver-haired man had made his life hell!

He made sure to yank them out in as painful a manner as he could. The nukenin probably couldn't feel it, being unconscious and all, but it made the blonde feel better. Ah, payback certainly was a bitch.

The jinchuuriki then returned his attention to the camo-clad man. "I said no, as in, 'fuck off.'"

Even though he couldn't see their faces, he was sure that each of the sound ninjas' eyebrows were raised. Such language, coming from a brat no less!

The redhead seemed to find this amusing. "Well he certainly told you. What now, oh fucking brilliant leader?"

Naruto grinned, noting the girl's attitude. 'Note to self, kill her last.'

After all, things could prove amusing with her alive for a bit longer. The other's though… he was looking for an excuse to kill them.

"You should reconsider my offer _boy. _It would be a shame if something were to happen to you and your friend here," the man reasserted, drawing a kunai.

Ah, the excuse had just presented itself. Whirling around, Naruto thrust his still unsealed naginata blade first up into the man's neck. He watched with amusement as he sputtered and grabbed at his throat.

"What was that?" the blonde inquired. "I'm sorry, but it's hard to hear you with that blade stuck through your throat like that. Let me help."

With the flick of his wrist, he decapitated the man in one swift stroke.

He looked to the other sound nin for their reactions. One of them turned and wretched, the contents of his stomach being emptied onto the ground. The redhead seemed slightly surprised, but for the most part really didn't seem to care. The four others were most likely enraged, as they were now drawing their weapons.

"Oh please, like you can kill me," he remarked snidely. "You think I'm just playing shinobi here? I _earned _this," he said while pointing to the slash going through his hitae-ate.

If they had even heard him, he didn't know. They all charged him, save the redhead, who had elected to pull out a flute and begin playing.

The very world around Naruto seemed to distort, becoming warped and dark. The nin that had been charging at him disappeared, and no matter where he looked, he couldn't see them.

"Huh… a genjutsu. And a good one too," the blonde commented aloud. "Kai!" he shouted, concentrating on creating a chakra fluctuation in his head. The illusion remained.

"Damn, this is _really _good." Either it was double layered or it was simply more advanced than your average genjutsu.

Closing his eyes, he spun his weapon around so the blade was facing towards him, then proceeded to ram it through his own chest. Opening his eyes, he was met with the _real _world once again.

Apparently in that short time span, he had received several injuries. Some gashes on his arms, cuts on his legs. Ducking under a slash from a kunai he rammed his weapon into his opponent's back as he passed by.

Shoving his weapon in the direction of an attacker behind him, the sharpened butt of his weapon dug deep into his would-be attacker's chest, ending his life.

The three others, now hesitant, became more cautious and gave the blonde some space. The redhead began playing another melody, but Naruto would have none of that. Whipping a kunai out of a jacket pocket, he tossed the weapon at the genjutsu mistress. Impacting with the flute, it was sent flying away from the girl.

The two other shinobi, who had watched the kunai, rather than their opponent, were caught off guard by the lightning fast attack the blonde had followed up with. Stabbing one with the rear end of his weapon, he took down the other by plunging the main blade of his naginata into the center of the man's chest.

With a nasty grin he pulled back on the weapon, making the saw-like teeth on the back of the naginata's blade rip out most of the man's chest cavity. Needless to say, he died almost instantly.

Now only the girl remained. Turning his attention to her, the jinchuuriki found her scrambling to retrieve her flute. Using kawarimi, he switched places with the corpse of a sound shinobi that was near the musical instrument.

Bending down to grab her flute, the girl soon found a set of teeth like blades by her neck. "Sorry, but I can't let you start using genjutsu on me again, can I?" Naruto inquired, amused by the girl's futile efforts.

She stared up at her enemy. Brown eyes met cerulean blue. "If you're gonna fucking kill me then just get it over with."

Bitter to the very end! This kunoichi was definitely a feisty one. "Excuse me?" the boy asked. "Now what gives you the idea that I'd kill you?"

"You're joking, right?" the sound-nin deadpanned. "Just do it already you sadistic fuckwad."

Naruto couldn't help but laugh. "Tell me, what's your name?" he asked.

"Why the fuck does that matter? I'm gonna be dead in a minute," she replied bitterly, her hate for the short blonde growing immensely.

"I'm Naruto, Uzumaki Naruto. Nice to meet you. And you are?" he asked, his manner seeming deceitfully cheerful. He followed on this by moving the back of his weapon even closer to her neck.

Was this guy serious? "Tayuya," she ground out.

"Nice name," he mused. "Well Tayuya-chan, I'll see you later. Play nice!" the Kyuubi container laughed, as he withdrew his weapon, then re-sealed it.

In the short time span that he had met the redhead, he had developed a bit or respect for her. She didn't beg for her life, or break down and cry like some girls might. Plus, she had an attitude to boot. He'd spare her… this time anyway.

Walking over to Hidan's body, he sealed the man's scythe away in a storage scroll. With a great deal of effort, he hefted the man on to one of his shoulders. The blonde looked over at the bewildered redhead, then winked. That would be sure to screw with her mind.

A second later, the boy and his silver-haired partner disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

After a few moments of utter silence, mostly due to shock and confusion, the redhead seemed to gain her bearings. Out of all the emotions, such as relief, or gratefulness, or even happiness, only one seemed to fit the situation.

"That _bastard!_" she roared. Obviously anger was at the top of her list. She began imagining painful ways to torture the blonde before killing him slowly the next time she saw him. She would get stronger just _to _kill him.

With a sigh of frustration, Tayuya looked around at the bodies of her fallen comrades. Well… maybe co-workers was a better term. After all, it's not like she gave a flying fuck about what happened to them, right?

But wait… if she was the only one left, that meant that _she _would have to be the one to report this to Orochimaru. And that meant…

One word seemed to summarize the situation perfectly.

"Fuck…"

-End Chapter-

* * *

Draknal: There. I started off the post time-skip chapter with a heated battle! And now you can stop bitching about when Tayuya will show up. There she is. Hopefully you all enjoyed this little segment I have provided.

Now, as to why they were fighting Zabuza. As missing nin, Naruto and Hidan can't take village missions and whatnot to gain cash, so they resorted instead to killing fellow nukenin. The bounties keep them sustained for a while. As far as turning in the heads for the rewards, how do they do it without being targeted themselves? Henge.

Now, as for why _Zabuza. _I figure that in the manga, team seven fights him as genin, each being the age of twelve. Since Naruto is now ten, I figure that Zabuza could have just begun his career as a nukenin. Being on the run from hunter-nin, and seeing as the newly formed Otogakure was taking in missing-nin, it seemed like a decent location. And because of the location I was able to incorporate Tayuya, if only a little bit. My reasons are my own! And they are explained! AUTHOR POWER!

Any time periods or chronologically incorrect events that might have occurred… just ignore them. Because once more, author power. So have I written, so it became.

Anywho, thanks again to all my readers. And thanks times two to all those who decide to review. I love and appreciate you for it. I work for my reviewers! Hopefully you will all come back to enjoy the next chapter of this story. Later!

Oh, and thanks once again to my beta reader, B!


	5. Chapter 4

**Naruto: Acolyte of Jashin**

Draknal: It has certainly been long enough, so I owe my readers a new chapter of Naruto: Acolyte of Jashin. Not much to say here.

Oh yeah, except this of course. Just to clear some things up… Naruto is _not _going to be invincible. His regeneration factor, courtesy of the fox, is not instantaneous healing. It takes time. Skin is easily healed, while muscles and organs and whatnot take much longer, which is why he didn't continue the fight with Zabuza in the last chapter.

And for all of you looking for perfection and complete accuracy in techniques and knowledge of the Naruto world in this story, please for the love of God get off it. I even said at the beginning of my first chapter, this is my first Naruto story. And not just that, but I really haven't dedicated myself to _knowing _everything about the Naruto world, not like I've done for other animes or games. Geez… I am writing this for _fun._ Some of you people are just impossible…

Now, for some of you, this might piss you off, but I've decided to take this route. Hidan, to me, seems like the kind of person that would have Earth specialization. So, due to his lack of techniques in the anime/manga, I will be supplementing him in that manner. So if he starts using any earth-based ones, back off. We don't know his chakra nature, so I have picked one for him. Who knows, he might have another one alongside this one.

Oh, and as far as pairings are concerned, because of some of you fans, I have actually started _considering _throwing in someone else as well. Note the italicized word, _considering._ That doesn't mean it will happen, so don't you dare hold me to that! Gah… on with the show.

Disclaimer: I've said it before and I'll say it again. I don't own Naruto or any of its characters, just the plot of this story.

* * *

**Chapter 4**

"Urgh… what the hell?"

A weary Hidan slowly blinked a few times, his vision blurry. Sitting up on the bed he was in, he took notice of his surroundings. He was in a room with two beds, a dresser, and a few chairs. The place was lightly furnished; probably a hotel. Judging by the light coming through the room's windows, it was some time in the early afternoon most likely.

The sound of a door opening drew his attention to the right, where a shirtless Naruto entered, drying his shaggy blonde locks with a towel.

"Oh, finally awake huh? About time," he remarked ever so casually.

The silver-haired nin grunted in response, before getting to his feet. "How long was I out brat?"

He grimaced when a sting of pain shot through his neck. "And why the fuck is my neck so sore?" he muttered.

"You've been sleeping for a day and a half," came the response. "Oh, and you got nailed in the neck with some senbon, if you're wondering."

Making his way over to the room's only dresser, Naruto opened one of its many drawers and donned a fishnet shirt and his usual jacket. "He got you pretty good too. You dropped like a sack of shit, and I got stuck carrying your ass back here. You're heavy, by the way."

He neglected to mention his encounter with the sound shinobi. After all, what point was there in mentioning such a fight, err… slaughter. Hidan would probably just shrug and not bother making a comment, so why waste breath explaining the event?

The nin made a rude hand gesture in return. "Bite me brat. I'm not heavy, you're just weak."

"Phft, I'm ten! And you're how old? You've had longer to get in shape!"

In all the time he had known the scythe wielder, Naruto had never found out his true age. He was immortal, so he had probably been around for a while. As to what effects the immortality had, he had no idea. Sure, he couldn't be killed, but did it mean that he wouldn't physically age either? Such a detail didn't seem to matter at the time because of how focused they had been on more important things.

Hidan had never mentioned whether or not the village he had most recently left was his first one or not. Shinobi defected from their villages and joined others all the time. Who's to say that his previous one hadn't just been another stop along the line?

"Whatever," answered the nukenin, clearly uninterested in what the blonde had said.

Glancing around the room, he failed to locate something that _should _have been there. So rather than continuing his fruitless attempt to find the missing item, he instead directed his attention back to his accomplice.

The Kyuubi container must have felt the gaze of his teacher of sorts, and he glanced over his shoulder. The man's rose hued glare was slightly unsettling.

"What?" he asked, clueless as to what he could want.

"Where is it?" the older shinobi inquired, his tone very direct and without mirth.

The blonde cocked his head to the side, before scratching his chin in a thoughtful manner. "Where is what?"

"My scythe," growled the silver-haired killer. The boy's game of innocence was starting to get irritating.

"Huh… you must have dropped it when you got knocked out, so… it's probably back in the forest somewhere," Naruto supplied. "Wow, that kinda sucks."

"And you _left _it there? You had better be joking you little bastard, or I swear to Jashin-sama that I _will _find a way to kill you."

Laughing, the ten year-old pulled out a scroll from one of his jacket pockets. Biting his finger, he swiped a bit of blood over the seal. In a poof of smoke, Hidan's three-bladed scythe appeared.

With a sigh of irritation, the weapon's owner stalked over to the blonde and seized it from him, looking the item over with careful detail and scrutiny. No scratches and no blood that shouldn't be there. It seemed fine.

"What, no 'thank you'?" interrupted the blonde.

In one swift the motion, the nin swung his scythe around and stabbed Naruto with two of its three blades, before pulling the weapon away and securing it on his back.

"What the _fuck _Hidan?!" shouted the Kyuubi container, looking over his newly acquired chest injuries. "That was totally uncalled for!"

"Then don't piss me off next time and just give me my damn scythe," the man deadpanned.

The younger fugitive groaned, glancing down at his jacket and fishnet shirt. "And I just got this stuff cleaned too… great."

"You've got bigger concerns, brat."

Making sure that nothing else of his was missing, Hidan took a moment to stretch out his stiff limbs. Now that he knew what had happened, it was only a matter of finding out where they were and how to proceed from there.

Walking over to one of the windows, he studied the outside surroundings. He could see several large residential apartments, various shops, and a large bustling market filled with numerous stalls and persons.

"Where the hell are we anyway?" inquired the scythe user, nodding towards the window.

Naruto, who was busy trying to prevent any more blood from getting on his outfit, waved the man off. "Eh, some town near the border of Fire and Sound. I think it was called Chemizansu, or something like that."

Frankly, the older nin could care less about the name of the village. Its location was all he needed to know. Near the border of Fire and Sound huh? Well that meant they'd have to travel west. The two certainly had no true goals in mind, other than to wander and serve Jashin as best they could. They weren't like the shinobi of the great villages, whose jobs were to bring glory to said village, or to further its power, both economically and politically.

There was no grand quest, no ulterior motives, and definitely not a need to become famous. As for why, Hidan had summed it up the best by saying, "Why waste time doing any of that shit? There's too much involved in it, and it's not like we'll get anything out of it."

However, Hidan had already gained quite the reputation, whether he knew it or not…

Outside one of windows, on a tree branch some distance away sat two cloaked figures.

"Is Leader-sama sure about this?" asked one of them, looking in at the two previously arguing shinobi.

The other opted not to say anything, instead just nodding his head in reply.

x-x-X-x-x

_In Otogakure…_

Orochimaru was one of the three legendary Sannin, and in his own opinion, the most powerful of the three. However, through all of his years, and all of his missions, he had never faced a foe so menacing as this.

_Paperwork…_

Oh how he loathed it! Why did being the ruler of a major village have to involve so much freaking paperwork?! The snake often found himself wondering, 'How does the old man deal with this?'

Hearing a knock at his door was a welcome relief from dealing with this nefarious foe.

"Enter."

The door opened, and Kabuto, his ever faithful spy, entered. Behind him was one of the genin he had so recently "recruited," Tayuya if he wasn't mistaken.

"It seems that there has been an incident with one of our patrols," informed Kabuto. Taking a bag that was strapped to his waist, the medic-nin placed it on his master's desk.

Opening the sack, the serpent sannin was slightly surprised to find six bloodstained hitai-ates, each one bearing a music note.

"Explain," the Otokage ordered. He could feel his patience wearing thin. If most of his patrol ended up dead, then that meant one of several things, none of them good. It could be anything from a simple scouting group to an invasion by another village. However, since there had been a survivor from the group, it was obviously not the latter of the two.

The spy adjusted his glasses, before giving his report. "Apparently they encountered hostile shinobi near the border of Fire Country. Tayuya here is the only survivor, and can give you a better idea of the situation."

The snake nodded. This certainly put a damper on things. He couldn't maintain a smooth schedule if his shinobi kept getting killed off left and right, and if there was one thing he couldn't stand, it was when his plans were disrupted. "I see. Kabuto, you are dismissed."

The silver-haired nin bowed, before turning and exiting the room, leaving Tayuya alone with the Otokage.

With his subordinate gone, he turned his serpentine gaze on the only remaining person. "Now, Tayuya-chan. Why don't you tell me what happened."

The redhead tried her best to keep the nervousness out of her voice. This guy may have been her leader, but that didn't mean that he didn't still creep her out. Orochimaru listened intently as the flute player went over the details of the encounter.

After finishing her tale, Tayuya watched carefully for some sort of reaction from the sannin. Soon, however, she wished that he had simply remained indifferent to the situation, as one of his evil genius smiles slowly formed.

"Kukuku… so you say it was a young boy who killed the rest of your team?" he inquired, his voice filled with genuine curiosity.

"Yes."

The snake summoner chuckled darkly. Had he been wringing his hands together in glee, it would have been the perfect picture of a madman or an evil scientist. A young boy, and a nukenin no less. How fortuitous! It was easiest to sway or shape a person's mind at a young age. If he could gain his allegiance, then he might make quite the valuable tool.

Judging from what he had heard, the boy's true strength was probably far greater than he had let on, as he had dispatched the Sound patrol with ease. Such power would be useful in crushing his foes, and it would only continue to grow…

"And do you remember what this boy looked like?" asked the serpent.

The redhead nodded. "Short, blonde hair, blue eyes," she found herself quickly becoming irritated as an image of the boy seemed to appear in her mind with each characteristic she named. "Weird marks on his face that looked like whiskers, black and red jacket, uses a naginata."

There he stood, weapon laying across his shoulders, one hand holding it, the other outstretched in a "thumbs up" pose. And he had that shit eating grin on his face…

The popping sound of her knuckles drew her attention back to the present. The sannin noticed how tightly her hands had clenched during the description of the nin. She most likely had a vendetta against the blonde, for showing her up and easily decimating her team.

But wait, she had said whisker marks?

"What symbol did he have on his hitai-ate?" he asked, not bothering to hold back the eagerness or impatience in his voice. If it was what he thought it was…

"A leaf, I think," answered the genjutsu user, uncertainly.

The Otokage tilted his head back allowed himself to indulge in dark maniacal laughter. A leaf! So he was from Konoha. How fortuitous _indeed. _If he was from Konoha, and bore the mark of a nukenin, it was obvious that he had cut his ties with the village. Perhaps he was looking for some revenge? If so, that would make it all the easier to _persuade _him to join his cause.

Not only that, but it confirmed his thoughts on the identity of the boy. So that was where he had been all this time… the Kyuubi container. With such a powerful tool at his disposal, Oto could become an unstoppable force!

But he had disappeared three years ago. At the time that would have made him seven, certainly too young to have attended or graduated from the shinobi academy. But if that was the case, then how did he obtain a hitae-ate? Could he have stolen it? Or even better, did he _kill _a Leaf shinobi to get it?

The snake allowed himself another bout of gleeful laughter, imagining all the possibilities. It was apparent the boy had weapons training, and shinobi training as well. He would think on that later, but for now he had other things to attend to. However, the Kyuubi brat had just been added to his list of things "to do."

"Orochimaru-sama?" inquired Tayuya. Oh how she hated using bullshit formalities…

"What you encountered was not a nukenin."

The redhead eyed him questioningly.

"He did not attend a shinobi academy, and therefore could not have become an official ninja of Konoha. But he is far more than a simple criminal… kukuku…" the pale man trailed off.

His curiosity sated, there was no need for him to keep the genin around any longer. With a wave of his hand, he dismissed her.

Not wanting to stick around any longer than necessary, the redhead bowed, turned on her heel, and made her way to the door. "Fucking freak…" she growled quietly as she exited.

x-x-X-x-x

The busy streets of Chemizansu proved difficult to navigate with so many people running about. But nonetheless, Hidan and Naruto continued their trek through the massive crowd.

"Look, all I'm saying is that maybe we should spend a few more days here. I mean, it's not that bad," called out Naruto, having to raise his voice above the loud background noises of the market area.

The man beside him was in the middle of massaging his temples. "Kid, I'm getting a headache just from thinking about that. We're leaving today."

"But we don't need to _be _anywhere any time soon!" protested the jinchuuriki. They moved around far too much for his tastes, and in his opinion, they needed to take some time to actually get to _know _certain regions of the lands they were traveling.

"That doesn't mean I want to sit around in this shit hole!" retorted Hidan. "The sooner we get going the…"

The blonde looked over at his companion, wondering why he had stopped mid-sentence. "Something up?"

"You mean you didn't notice?"

The boy scratched at his head, wondering what the hell he was talking about. "Notice what?"

"We have some guests. They've been following us since we left the inn," he remarked, slowly changing their heading, instead moving them towards the thicker crowds deeper within the market district.

Naruto turned to look behind them, hoping to get some idea of exactly _who _was tailing them. Before he could get his head turned half-way, he received a smack to the back of his skull.

"Don't look back you dumbass! Do you _want _them to know we're aware of their presence?"

The ten year-old was now rubbing the back of his head, nursing the injury. "You could have just said, 'don't look back' ya know. I could have done without the hitting…"

While neither one looked back at their pursuers, they _did _increase their pace slightly. This did not go unnoticed by the ones behind them.

"Heh, looks like they finally noticed," chuckled the first, glancing out of the corner of his straw hat to his partner.

"Hmm, it would seem so. Remember, make no moves against them yet," advised the other one.

While leaving the town would have been ideal, because they would be less restricted in movement and not having to worry about civilians getting in the way, Hidan instead elected to attempt to lose the persons after them by continuing to delve deeper into the city. However, if they remained persistent, he would just have to sacrifice them to Jashin…

Taking a turn into a back alley, the two Jashin worshippers listened as two other pairs of feet followed them. Coming to a dead end, the two turned to face the ones who had been just a few yards behind them. They were similar in appearance, as both wore a straw hat and a black cloak adorned with red clouds.

However, physically they were both _very _different. One looked like a normal person, with an average height and build. The other though… was rather large, and appeared to be hunched over. He wore a bandana around his face, hiding his lower features. His eyes were so determined looking though, so set and serious.

"There something you want, or are you just following us for fun?" inquired Hidan, leaning back on the wall behind him.

"You are the one called Hidan?" asked the larger of the two, directing his never-failing gaze to the older shinobi.

He scoffed in reply. "And if I am? Who the fuck is asking?"

The other cloak-garbed shinobi chuckled. "He's got quite the mouth on him, yeah."

"We come representing our Leader," began the hunched over pursuer. "He has taken an interest in you. In _both _of you, actually."

"We're flattered," spoke up Naruto, not wanting to be left out.

The two turned their eyes towards the jinchuuriki, who was now fidgeting slightly. His first thought was to draw his weapon scroll, but since Hidan hadn't taken any action yet, he would just follow his example.

"And what does your "Leader" want from us?" asked Hidan, making quotation signs in the air to go along with his inquiry.

"He's sending you an invitation to join a group of elite nukenin, known as Akatsuki, yeah. We're looking for a new member, or in this case, members. It'd be wise to accept this offer, yeah," elaborated the more normal looking of the two.

Naruto immediately grabbed Hidan's arm and brought him down to his level. "No way! I don't trust these guys any farther than I could throw them!" he whispered, fiercely against such a thing.

Jerking his arm free from the blonde, Hidan retaliated by hitting him atop his head with a closed fist. "Shut it brat. I'm thinking."

"Come _on! _How the fuck stupid do you have to be to see that this is _not _a good idea?!" shouted the blonde, all the while rubbing at the sore spot on top of his head.

The two other shinobi, both aware of the fact that they were now being ignored, turned and gave each other questioning looks. _Was _their Leader serious about these two?

"How much does it pay?" inquired the scythe wielder, glancing between the two nukenin opposite of him.

The shorter one answered his question, his voice still as monotone and patient as it had first been. "Financial matters will never be a concern for you again."

"I see." Hidan rubbed his chin in thought. "Will I have the freedom to kill who or where I wish?"

The normal looking cloaked shinobi was slightly surprised. 'Doesn't he even care about what our goals are? This guy's a weird one, yeah.'

"Our organization relies upon secrecy. You will only kill if instructed to by our leader, or if you have to in order to reach a target or accomplish a mission," said the hunched over nin.

This immediately caught Hidan's attention. "Wait, _what? _Hmph, well then fuck that. The only master I have is Jashin-sama, and he lets me kill _who_ I wish, _how_ I wish, _where _I wish."

"You might wanna rethink that, yeah," suggested the first man. He then calmly reached into his cloak and unzipped a pouch strapped to his thigh.

"If he wants us to join that bad, he can come himself, instead of sending two flunkies like you," laughed Naruto, enjoying the reactions he got from the two.

The shorter of the two seemed indifferent to the remark, but the other one instantly went into a rage.

"Do you know who you're talking to brat?!" shouted the nukenin, before removing his hat. "I am Deidara, master of the art of clay, yeah!"

With his hat gone, it could be noted that the man was in fact a blonde, like Naruto. His hair, while long, was tied up in a pony tail, with his bangs covering his left eye.

The other chose not to reveal any more about his physical appearance, opting to keep his hat on. He did however, give them an introduction. "And I am Sasori of the Red Sand."

Hidan felt a smile tug at the corners of his mouth. These guys were strong, which meant Jashin would be quite pleased to receive them. "I've heard of you," he said, inclining his head toward the one who referred to himself as Sasori. "So I know that you're dangerous."

"But not you," he continued, looking at Deidara.

This only seemed to irk the man even more, as he was now being discredited as a powerful shinobi. "I'll show you…" he growled, reaching into his pouch to pull out whatever he kept in it.

He was stopped when his partner took a firm hold of his wrist, preventing him from acting. He glared at Sasori, but did not verbally protest. "Whether or not you join makes no difference to us. However…"

The short, hulking man looked over at Naruto. "The Kyuubi will be coming with us, by force if necessary."

Hidan reached back and drew his scythe, which to the two men in front of him, was a rather imposing looking weapon. "Sorry, but you shits aren't taking him with ya."

The blonde grinned smugly, happy to have his teacher-of-sorts stick up for him.

"Don't get the wrong idea brat. I'm not doing this for you." Naruto felt himself sweatdrop. "Jashin-sama will not give up one of his own, so it looks like we have to take care of them."

Naruto couldn't help but mentally scream 'Yes!', as it meant he would get a chance to fight once again. Whipping out his scroll, he immediately unsealed his weapon, his naginata appearing a second later.

"So be it," muttered Sasori, preparing for a fight.

An alley being too small to fight in, Naruto and Hidan both took to the rooftops with a quick _shunshin._ The two Akatsuki members followed them, each going after their own target.

x-x-X-x-x

Naruto stood with his naginata at the ready, looking around for any signs of his opponent. He could come from anywhere, including…

He dared to glance upward for a moment, and was shocked by what he saw. There, floating above him, was a large bird that seemed to be made of… clay? And on top of it stood the blonde loudmouth from the alley, Deidara.

"I was wondering how long it would take you to spot me, yeah," he laughed, extending his right arm towards the jinchuuriki. Was that a _mouth_ on his hand? What kind of freak was this guy?

"I'll give you one chance to surrender kid. If you don't I'll have to take you out, yeah."

The opposing blonde simply replied by giving the man on the bird, "the bird." Coarse laughter soon echoed from the man. "I was hoping you'd say that!" he shouted, as the mouth on his hand opened and launched a smaller clay bird at him.

Naruto easily evaded the clay creation, the bird smashing into the roof behind him. "You better have some stronger techniques than that! Cause if that's the best you've got then-"

_**BOOM!**_

The ten year-old was launched across the rooftop from the force of the explosion. His body skidding to a halt, he shook his head and looked over to where the explosion had gone off. A massive, gaping hole was left, around thirty feet in diameter.

'That was… from that little clay bird?' thought the Kyuubi container with disdain. He would have to be a lot more careful around this guy than he had originally thought.

The flying nukenin released another attack, only this time it consisted of a small _fleet_ of clay birds, which rather than just flying in a straight line, were actually _flying _towards their target. The pole arm user dodged around the initial attack, only to have them circle around and try for another pass.

Backpeddling as the birds pursued him once again, he pulled out a shuriken from the pouch on his hip. "Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

A barrage of projectiles pelted the flying clay animals, causing many of them to detonate. To any onlooker, it would have seemed as though death was raining down upon the town. People in the streets were screaming and pointing up at the two shinobi that were engaged in combat. Others were busy running for their lives hoping not to get caught in the crossfire.

Deidara was enjoying himself far too much. From high above he watched as the younger blonde made several attempts to outsmart his clay creations. "So what do you think now brat? Isn't art a bang!? Ha ha ha!"

Applying chakra to his feet, Naruto began scaling the wall of a much taller building, adjacent to the one he had been running on. If he could get close enough to the large clay bird…

Creating a cross sign with his fingers, a dozen Kage Bunshin popped up around him. One by one, they threw themselves into the path of the exploding clay birds that were in pursuit, making sure the original Naruto was not injured by them.

Upon reaching the highest point on the building, the Kyuubi container leapt off, heading towards the Akatsuki nin at top speed. He seemed to be expecting this, as his monstrous bird flew higher to put more distance between them.

The ten year-old flipped through several hand signs, before finishing with a grin. "Futon: Daitoppa!"

_That_, Deidara had not been expecting. Powerful gales assaulted his clay creation, causing one of its wings to tear and fall away. Without both wings, the creature became unstable and incapable of maintaining flight. Moments later, it plummeted towards the ground.

Landing near the downed work of art, Naruto wasted no time in charging towards it, hoping to catch its creator off guard. But before he could reach it, several clay snakes slithered out from the wreckage, and they were moving _fast._

Jumping to avoid the first few, he killed off many with well aimed kunai. As soon as his feet touched ground again, one of the slithering menaces he hadn't seen constricted around his body and, a moment later, exploded.

It was fortunate that he had managed to use Kawarimi with some rubble left from the destroyed buildings nearby.

'Gah, this is no good. I can't kill those clay creatures with my naginata. I'll be too close when those things go off! What am I gonna do?' he wondered, trying to think of anything that might give him an advantage. 'I have to get to the guy in control of them!'

"Not bad kid, yeah. But let's see how you do against these little guys," called out an overzealous Deidara. 'I haven't had this much fun in a while!'

Naruto would have inquired as to what he meant, but soon found out as what looked like swarms of clay grasshoppers soon launched themselves in his direction. "Shit!" he cried, dashing inside one of the nearby buildings that hadn't been annihilated yet.

The tiny explosives were hot on his trail, but unlike the clay birds, they didn't detonate upon impact with hard surfaces, and they were far too small to hit with kunai or other projectiles. He did everything to lose them, from slamming doors behind him to block them, to throwing furniture in the way. Still they persisted.

For three floors it went this way, him running for his life while the tiny annoyances gave chase. Making a last ditch effort, he leapt out a window. He failed to notice the bug that had managed to cling onto his back however.

_**BANG!**_

The jinchuuriki was blown towards the ground with extreme force. Being unable to correct his trajectory, he slammed into the earth on his back, his head smacking against the rocky street, making everything go dark.

x-x-X-x-x

Splitting up from his ally, Hidan wasted no time in taking to the offensive. His opponent, Sasori simply sat in waiting. From what he knew of his foe, he was a master in the art of using combat puppets. It was even rumored that he made his puppets out of the bodies of his defeated enemies. Such a thought made him grin with grim satisfaction. This guy was almost as twisted as _he _was!

He had yet to summon a puppet to his aid, and from what he could see he had drawn no weapons to attack or defend himself with. This man was either very cocky or very good.

'Looks like it's time to find out which,' smirked Hidan, drawing his weapon back for an attack.

Charging his enemy, the silver-haired nukenin dashed around his unmoving opponent rather than attacking head-on. Striking at the Akatsuki's unprotected back, he wasn't in the least surprised when a lightning-fast, metallic tail intercepted his attack.

Ducking under a strike from the spear-like end of the appendage, Hidan put some distance between himself and his foe. He shouldered his weapon for a moment, watching as the cloak-wearing nin turned to face him. "You know, I'm actually glad that didn't work. It'd be pretty sad if you died from only the first attack."

"I could say the same of you," the hunchbacked man replied. "Few people can evade a surprise strike from my tail like that…"

The scythe wielder launched himself at his S-ranked opponent once more, blocking a strike from the serpentine-like tail with one of the blades of his weapon as he did so. His attack was dodged, Sasori leaping to the side to do so. It was hard to believe that such a large person could move so quickly.

Before he could attempt another strike, he found the tail of his enemy coming for him. A metallic _**clang!**_sounded out as he once more blocked with his scythe. The weapon, however, was intent on impaling him, as it circled around and tried again.

Stabbing his weapon blade first into the roof of the building he was on, he freed his hands for a moment to flash through some seals. "Doton: Doryuuheki!"

Expelling a thin layer of mud from his mouth on the area in front of him, a wall of earth rose immediately afterwards, blocking the incoming attack from Sasori. This only helped to prove how dangerous the nukenin's tail was, as a moment later the metallic appendage annihilated the wall, sending earth and rock scattering in every direction, along with a cloud of dust.

Glancing around the rooftop, the puppet-user could see no sign of his foe, or the weapon he had put aside to engage in his jutsu. With caution he approached the remains of the earth wall, his tail hovering in front of him, moving side to side like a cobra waiting to strike. Without warning another wall of earth shot up in front of the nukenin, cutting through the building itself to do so. This wall was several times thicker than the first, which meant that it was probably less easily shattered than its predecessor.

He had leapt away, in case it was some sort of trap. A rumbling sound alerted him to the summoning of yet _another _wall, only behind him this time. Two more shot up in succession, enclosing the area in a square of rock and dirt. Now all that he could see was the shingling of the roof under him, the walls around him, and the sky above, where there was fortunately no ceiling.

The man had to be in area still. There was no way he could perform such jutsu with such precision if he wasn't. He was proved right when one of the large rocks from the first destroyed earth wall began moving towards him. The image of the rock disappeared in a puff of smoke, replaced an instant later by a grinning Hidan.

'He used Henge to look like a rock. Interesting…'

"You have sealed your own fate with this enclosed ring," he commented, preparing to strike once more with his deadly tail.

The opposing nukenin shrugged, seemingly not caring in the least about whether or not what he had done should be considered smart or not. He knew what he was doing, after all.

Breaking into a run, Hidan raised his scythe with one hand, and drew a kunai with the other. Tossing the projectile, he watched with satisfaction as the tail blocked the weapon, as expected.

Said tail swept around and attempted to spear the incoming shinobi, only to jerk to the side at the last moment, allowing the scythe-user to make a successful attack on his enemy.

The sound of metal on metal screeched out around them. Sasori jumped back, his cloak now shredded and useless. Hidan raised an eyebrow as he looked over the fully revealed form of his foe. It had a large metal left arm, a normal looking right one, a weird emotionless face, and what looked like an enormous mask was strapped to its back, the tail extending out of the mouth. This was no person… it was-

'A puppet? He's been using one this whole time?' Looking to the blades of his scythe confirmed this, as there wasn't a single drop of fresh blood on them. That meant he couldn't use his body mirroring technique, which meant this would most likely make the fight a very drawn out one.

Different thoughts were going through Sasori's mind. 'How did my attack miss? There was no way…'

It was then that he noticed the faint blue glow coming from his tail. Following the stream of blue, he noticed how it trailed from his tail to Hidan's hand.

He pieced the clues together, now understanding what had happened. "A chakra string… clever. You were able to manipulate my tail right before it reached you. Your control is that of a novice at best. The only reason a puppet master like myself didn't notice right away was due to the element of surprise. I find it hard to believe that a non-puppet user is capable of such a feat."

"It makes things interesting," laughed Hidan. "It's amazing what you can learn from people after a few hours of torturing them. And let's just say that little trick isn't as hard as you think it is."

After all, if both he _and _the brat could use it, if only at a basic level, it still meant that it wasn't as advanced a technique as what the rumors might state. Just because you could use chakra strings didn't mean you had to become a puppet-user.

Breaking the link between the chakra string and his tail, Sasori continued by summoning up some of his own chakra.

"Bunshin no Jutsu," mumbled the Askatsuki member.

Three exact replicas of the battle puppet appeared, each with its own tail weaving and trailing around in the air.

'Well shit, this might make things a little more difficult,' thought Hidan, severely disliking the situation.

Assuming that the puppet only moved its tail and remained stationary otherwise, it would make it very difficult to tell which was the real one, and which ones were only harmless illusions.

A moment later he found himself dodging and feinting to avoid the attacks of the mechanized weapons. There were several close calls, but none ever made contact with him, either missing or being deflected by his scythe.

'I'll never get a strike in this way…' groused the silver-haired nin.

He flashed through several hand signs, ending with a shout of "Tsuchi Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Like phantoms, several dopplegangers of Hidan emerged from the walls of rock and earth that created the enclosure surrounding the combatants, each with their own scythe, and a psychotic grin to match.

A fierce exchange of blows occurred in the seconds that followed. Each of the illusionary Sasori's faded out of existence, being on the receiving end of a physical attack. However, Hidan's clones also paid a price, several being smashed back into chunks of earth, the unrelenting attack of Sasori's main weapon evening out the playing field.

Several of the remaining clones converged on the nukenin, hoping to take advantage of his tail's ability to only skewer one at a time. The ex-Suna shinobi proved that he had more than a few tricks up his sleeve, when the mouth of the puppet opened up and released a hail of high velocity metal shards. The clones were shredded in a matter of seconds, crumbling back into the element they had come from.

He turned back to the creator of the annoyances. "So you enjoy surprises do you?" he asked, before burrowing his tail into the roof of the structure they were fighting upon.

Hidan frowned, knowing what was going to happen next. 'Great, now I have no clue where that damn thing is going to pop up.'

He could hear the metal appendage demolishing walls down below, moving through the building, in an attempt to get to him. The floor under him would occasionally shudder, the building protesting the rampant destruction that was occurring within it.

Everything suddenly went very quiet…

That meant that something was about to happen. Not wanting to wait to find out what, Hidan charged his foe once again. The rumbling resumed, which meant it was coming.

He had expected the attack to come from behind, where he couldn't see it. Rather, he was shocked when the metal instrument of death erupted from the ground directly in front of him.

The silver-haired man rolled to the side, only to have that section of roof give out from underneath him! As he fell through the upper two floors of the building, he saw the ever-pursuing tail shoot downwards through the wreckage after him.

Freefalling battle was _not _something Hidan was even remotely familiar with. His strengths in combat were best when he was on the _ground. _He made due though, blocking and attacking the appendage as best he could.

Darting around the scythe user, the tail struck from behind, skewering the man through his back and out the front of his chest, where it then slammed him into a nearby wall.

Rather than struggling against the maneuverable weapon, which now pinned him to the wall, he let a grin come to his face as he looked over his shoulder.

"Doton: Tsuchi Supaiku no Jutsu."

A massive stalagmite burst from the ground, shooting up through the building, tearing anything in its path to pieces. It ripped through the tail of Sasori's puppet like it was made out of paper, which was a testament to the strength of the technique. If such a strong metal was decimated by such an attack, then one could only imagine what it would do to a human body.

Applying chakra to his feet, Hidan pushed off from the wall, forcefully pulling himself off of the remains of the tail which had held him in place. Looking down at the gaping wound, he could only find annoyance in such a trivial thing. "Fuck. That's going to take a while to heal."

A loud thumping noise alerted him to his enemy's approach. Sure enough, there sat Sasori, less than a few feet away from him. "What an inconvenience," remarked the missing nin, looking at the severed tail section of his battle puppet. "However, it served its purpose."

"What are you talking about? Without that piece of shit to protect you I'm gonna rip you to shreds," threatened Hidan, bringing up his weapon.

"Oh I don't think so. Can't you feel it? Or has it simply not taken affect yet?" inquired Sasori, smugness, and a bit of curiosity in his voice.

"What- urgh…" he suddenly fell to a knee, one of his arms grasping at his open wound.

A chuckle came from within the puppet. "I forgot to mention that all of my weapons are coated with a very unique poison. It will incapacitate my victims, and eventually kill them. There is _no _antidote," he added, sounding very proud of himself.

x-x-X-x-x

Naruto awoke to the feeling of water dripping on his face. Looking around, he found that he was for the second time in his life, in the sewer that contained the very reason he was hated.

"Damn it, what an inconvenience," he mumbled, looking for an exit of some sort. "You stupid fox, I don't have time for this!"

Running down the dim sewer tunnels, he found himself going nowhere fast. That was, until he reached the oh-so-familiar bars that had the small piece of paper, labeled "seal," on them.

"Where are you fox?" he called into the cell.

A massive glowing eye soon opened from deep within the room, glaring at the boy. It did nothing to acknowledge him, however.

"Come on you lazy sack of fur, get up!"

A set of claws came flying between the bars a moment later. They stopped mere inches away from the blonde's face, but he didn't flinch.

"**Choose your words carefully when speaking to me, human…" **growled the large creature.

"Why did you bring me here? I'm busy fighting some jackass out in the real world at the moment, in case ya didn't notice!" fumed the short boy, not caring in the least that he was shouting at the most powerful of all the bijou.

The beast snorted in response. **"I did not bring you here. It was your own doing. Now leave me."**

"I'm not joking around here! Send me out of here or I'm gonna end up a stain on the street!"

The fox, clearly irritated by its host's persistence, stood up to its full height and approached the bars of its prison. **"Time in here passes differently than in the real world. In here, days can pass while only mere seconds do on the outside."**

It eyed the boy carefully, making sure this was the same child that had stumbled upon its sanctuary only three years before. He was different now. He had the scent of blood about him. Of course, he knew about everything that had happened on the outside. He could see everything the boy could, and knew everything that he did. It was pleased to see that Naruto was no longer the weak child from before. After all, it couldn't have a weak host, could it?

The fox's information seemed to calm the blonde down slightly, seeing as how he wasn't going to be blown to bits within the next few seconds. But that still didn't solve the inevitable problem of facing a fiery non-existence.

"Can't you do anything to help me out there?" inquired Naruto.

"**I have no reason to aid you,"** came the swift reply.

"I'm your host, so you owe me!"

A bark-like laugh came from within the cage. **"A prisoner owes his jailor nothing."**

The fox was proving to be very stubborn, more so than he himself was. "Hey, if I die, then so do you!"

"**Your pact with this… **_**Jashin**_**, grants you the power of immortality. You will never die, which means neither will I. My existence is assured. I have no reason to help you,"** elaborated the fox, calling Naruto's bluff.

For a moment, the creature shuddered, growling as it did so. After shaking its head a few times, it redirected its attention to the human in front of it.

"What the hell was _that_?" asked a rather amused jinchuuriki.

"**The whispering… the incessant clawing at my mind. The tormenting voices… I would kill you for what you have done, but these bars…" **mumbled the kitsune.

Whispering? Ah, like when he first made contact with his master, Jashin. Perhaps he had taken an interest in the fox?

"I have two reasons for you to help me," stated a smug looking Naruto, arms crossed and a grin on his face.

The Kyuubi seemed to tilt its head toward the boy, listening to what he had to say. Whether he was genuinely interested or not, the blonde wasn't sure.

"I can ask Jashin-sama to leave you alone. _And_, if you _don't _help me, my body will most likely get blown to hell by that clay loving fucknut. No body means no seal, and no seal means we go our separate ways. In this case, I'd still be alive I guess, just in nothingness. But _you_, well, without the seal… you're fucked."

It was in that moment that the fox came to a grim realization. He was _right._ Without the seal, he _would _be separated from the boy, and that meant that his existence would be extinguished. He only had the luxury of immortality thanks to Naruto and his sworn allegiance to Jashin.

"So what do you say fox? You going to help me or not?"

"**You will make the voices stop… and if you do not, then you shall never again have my assistance," **the fox managed to get out through gritted teeth. It did _not _like having to admit defeat.

"Deal!" exclaimed an ecstatic Naruto. "Now hurry up and get me on my way!"

"**Very well boy. You desire my aid? Then you shall **_**have**_** it!" **roared the kitsune, the room around it exploding in a burst of crimson chakra.

The blonde's world erupted in color as he returned to consciousness.

x-x-X-x-x

The group of clay grasshoppers falling towards the unconscious blonde detonated, filling the area with fire and smoke.

"Shit, I might have overdone it, yeah," remarked Deidara, as he approached the aftermath of the destructive technique.

He was stopped dead in his tracks when a waved of chakra seemed to wash over him. It felt like pure evil… hatred, malice, and power wrapped all into one. As the smoke cleared, he could make out a figure standing there, a coat of blood red chakra wisping off of him.

The jinchuuriki looked up at the man that had dared come near him. Deidara found a lump forming in his throat. The kid had changed…

His once cerulean colored eyes were now a haunting bloody color, with slits for pupils. His whisker marks were now more bold and defined. The boy's canines had grown longer, more animalistic looking. And his fingers may have as well been claws at this point in time. He stood hunched over in a bestial-like manner, his murderous gaze focused on the only person near him.

"I'm going to make sure you die _slowly_," declared the Kyuubi container, his voice coming out in a low rasp.

"Shit…" mumbled the opposing blonde. He had just tapped into the fox's power.

-Chapter End-

* * *

Tsuchi Bunshin no Jutsu- **Earth Clone Technique**

Doton: Tsuchi Supaiku no Jutsu- **Earth Style: Earth Spike Technique**

Draknal: Surprised that it wasn't Itachi and Kisame? They'll show up later, don't worry. Wow, that was actually a bit more than I had been hoping for. Hopefully this long chapter will make up for any complaints my readers might have against having to wait so long for me to get this out.

Please leave me a review on your way out to let me know what you think. Again, as I said in the beginning, I am _not_ _trying _to achieve perfection here, so please keep that in mind. This is for fun, so take it as such. Thanks!

Thank you to all my readers, and everyone who decides to leave me a review. I wouldn't have gotten this far without all of you!

And a very special thanks to my beta reader, B!


	6. Chapter 5

**Naruto: Acolyte of Jashin**

Draknal: Yeah, I know… it's been too long since the last chapter of this story came out. Ugh… sorry people, sorry. I will never be able to say that enough. I've had computer problems, writer's block, you name it. Anyway, enough with my excuses.

Enjoy the next chapter of the story!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of its characters, just the ones I make up, and the plot of this story.

* * *

**Chapter 5**

He didn't dare move. Not before _he _did. It could mean the difference between life or an excruciatingly painful death. One thing was for certain though… that menacing, animal-like predatory grin was _not _helping to ease the nervousness he was feeling right now.

'Why did I have to take the brat?' thought Deidara with disdain. 'He's young and inexperienced. Piece of cake said Sasori-danna. Big mistake, yeah.'

The blonde across from him continued to watch with twisted curiosity, scanning the man for any sign of fear. It was there, and it was… wonderful, exhilarating even. Beginning a slow advance, the jinchuuriki followed the movement of the Akatsuki member with his eyes. Deidara had responded by taking a step backwards and sticking a hand into the pouch on his hip.

The Kyuubi container seemed to blur as he shot towards the nukenin, claw-like hands stretched outward to skewer the shinobi. Jumping into the air, the cloak-wearing man extended his arm towards the ground and released a ball of clay from the mouth on his hand. The moment the sphere impacted the ground it detonated with the force of several dozen explosive notes, sending up a massive cloud of dust and debris.

The younger blonde was launched back from the force of the explosion. However, it didn't take him long for him to relocate his target. Charging his foe once again, he dodged a barrage of similar clay projectiles, each aimed at him with the intent to either slow him down or deter him. Any injury he received from shrapnel or explosions that went off too close to him were quickly healed by the constant flow of demonic chakra, complements of the Kyuubi.

"Damnit, I wasn't supposed to be the one playing defense, yeah," cursed the demolitions expert. In a normal fight, this would have been over long ago. "But I had to go and toy around with him first… feh."

Unfortunately for him, Naruto was now using the demon's chakra. That meant that all of his senses and abilities were now exponentially greater than they once were. It was because of that, and _only _that, the blonde was able to hold his own, and even go on the offensive.

'I guess I have to start trying now,' grinned Deidara, reaching into his pouch once again to retrieve another mouthful of clay.

He was stronger and more experienced, but still… if the brat landed a hit on him, he'd be in a world of pain. Dodging to the side, he watched as the jinchuuriki slashed at where he had been. The stone that made up the street now sported several large marks where the claws had made contact. There may not have been a crater, but the marks were _very _deep. Yes, getting hit by him would be painful indeed.

Coming to a stop, the smaller blonde regarded the other man for a moment. "Do you think you can stop dodging so much? Or do I have to tear off your legs first?"

"Hn, cocky little bastard. I was going easy on you earlier, yeah. You'll find I'm an S-ranked nukenin for a reason!" he declared, setting up for his next attack.

Deidara had noticed something in his fight with the Kyuubi-container. After he had begun drawing on the fox's power, he had stopped using jutsu and a weapon. He seemed to be relying more on brute force now, and not really thinking out any of his moves. He could use that to his advantage.

Launching another barrage of explosives from his left hand, the Akatsuki member watched as the boy jumped up to avoid the attack. Swinging his right arm up, he lashed out at his opponent with what looked like a length rope made out of clay. Grinning as the makeshift whip caught the jinchuuriki by the ankle, he jerked back on the part he had been holding.

With nothing to brace himself with in the air, Naruto had no choice but to crash back to the ground with a painful **thud**. He attempted to stand but came to find that his legs couldn't move. Looking down, he noticed the clay that had wrapped around his ankle had spread to his other leg and was continuing to envelop the rest of his body.

Swiping at it with one of his claws, he found, to his horror, that the clay would simply reform itself and continue with its task, unhindered. In this state, it was more like goo than clay. Looking to the person controlling it, his slitted eyes narrowed when he found that the cloaked man was pumping out a steady stream of clay from his hands.

He growled as he continued his futile attempts at extracting himself from the clay menace. A laugh was the response he received from his enemy.

"Stop struggling brat. You aren't going to get out of this one, yeah. But look at it this way, at least you go out with a bang, a true work of art!" Deidara cackled, looking over his latest "masterpiece."

'Hmph, Leader-sama wants him alive, so I guess I'll just have to make sure to tone it down a bit,' he frowned, remembering that he couldn't go so far as to kill the kid.

Stepping back, the former rock-nin sighed. 'Leader-sama always ruins my fun.'

With a surge of chakra and a shout of 'Katsu!' the clay containing the jinchuuriki detonated. Unrestricted, the explosion would most likely have wiped out a good portion of the town. However, seeing as how they needed the container to be alive in order to extract the Kyuubi, he had made sure that the blast was less powerful and non-lethal. It should have been more than enough to accomplish the job though.

As the smoke cleared, the nukenin approached the crater. Sure enough, the Kyuubi brat was lying at the bottom of it, unmoving. Crouching next to the kid, he checked him for a pulse. Sure enough, he was alive.

He tried to jump back as crimson eyes shot open, but a claw seizing him by the throat kept that from happening. Naruto pulled him closer so they were face to face. "That… hurt," he growled, before applying pressure on the man's neck.

He reveled in the pain and agony shown on Deidara's face. The clay-user gasped and spluttered as more and more force was exerted on his neck…

_**SNAP!**_

His entire body then went limp.

The jinchuuriki slowly rose to his feet, still holding the Akatsuki member by his throat. He was slowly turning pale, and… melting…?

Throwing the body aside, he watched as it seemed to crumble and turn into chunks of clay.

The blonde let out a cry of rage, his head whipping around rapidly, hoping to find the explosive user. There was no sign of him. He couldn't detect his scent either, probably thanks to the large amount of clay and smoke from earlier explosions.

x-x-X-x-x

This was not an ideal situation for Hidan. He had a gaping wound in his chest, there was a debilitating poison coursing through his veins, and he had no clue how the hell he was going to get out of this fight in one piece. Yeah, this was less than ideal.

Footsteps alerted him to his enemy's approach. "You will not die from this poison so quickly, but you will suffer through every moment until then," informed Sasori, looking over the injured nukenin.

"I wonder how well you will perform as a puppet."

Hidan lifted his head so that he was looking directly at the puppet master. "Fuck you… I ain't becoming one of your playthings…"

A massive burst of chakra caught the attention of both nin. It had come from the direction of Deidara and Naruto. Did that mean…?

"It would seem the boy has called upon the power of the Kyuubi," remarked the former Suna shinobi, his voice calm and level.

'That came from the brat? He better not lose to that bastard or I swear I'll castrate the little shit when I get out of this,' thought Hidan, while trying to find a way out of said predicament.

"For now, I will leave my poison to do its job. I shall return to collect my newest puppet shortly." The Akatsuki member then disappeared via shunshin.

"Fuck, that kid's in for a rough fight," Hidan noted, being unable to do much else at the moment. However, he still had some strength left in him.

'If that fucker hadn't stabbed me in the chest then things might be a bit different right now,' the scythe user frowned. Had he been hit anywhere else, he would still have more time before the poison took full effect. But because it hit his chest, it spread to his heart, then to the rest of his body relatively quickly.

It hurt to move, which was very well becoming a troubling task to do. It was as if there were thousand pound weights on each of his limbs, and his entire body was engulfed in flames. But he wasn't going to just sit there and take it! Fuck that! He'd never hear the end of it from the kid if he simply rolled over and waited till he recovered.

While the poison wouldn't kill him, as nothing could, it still rendered his body useless for the most part. But he'd be damned if he wasn't going to do anything. Using the shaft of his scythe for support, he pulled himself up to his feet.

x-x-X-x-x

Shinobi were taught to use stealth to their advantage whenever they could. It was a basic principle. If said advantage was not on your side, then you made up for it in other ways. Fighting on a terrain that gave you a distinct edge over your opponent was one way. If neither option was available, then you made up for it with superior firepower or overwhelming numbers.

In this case, Deidara found himself severely handicapped. None of the latter options were available to him; hence why he was quietly seething in a part of the town that had yet to be marred by their fighting.

He _hated _having to be stealthy! His job, his art, his _passion _was to be loud and expressive! Explosives were _not _meant to be quiet, and neither was he. But now… this would be his greatest boon.

'Feh… I guess I don't have a choice right now,' he groused mentally. 'I'll have to use _that _technique.'

Unfortunately, it would use up most of, if not the remainder of the clay he had left in his pouch. This was a rarity, as the carrying pouch he used had a seal on it that allowed for a greater storage capacity. Because of that, he _never _ran out of explosive clay! Then again, he wasn't used to capture missions, just simple assassinations or mass murdering. Those instances only ever took a single well placed explosive, and 'Boom,' no hassle, no mess, no wasting time.

'I'll have to increase my stores when I get back to base, yeah.'

The blonde flipped through several hand signs before beginning to mold his clay, grinning madly the entire time. If this didn't do it, then _nothing _would.

_With Naruto…_

The blonde, still in a state of rage and bloodlust, continued his search for his opponent. He had taken the coward's way out and run… that did _not _make him happy.

Leaping from building to building, the follower of Jashin occasionally sniffed the air, checking for any sign of the ex-Iwa nin. Still nothing…

The air was saturated with the scent of explosives and clay. Slitted eyes of crimson glided over the town below, observing the carnage and rampant destruction that had been left behind in the wake of their battle. It was an enthralling feeling, which left him with the desire to pick up where they had left off.

As he prepared to take to the air once again, Naruto instead stilled his body. He had felt something…

It was faint, but it was there. Motion. He couldn't see it, but he could _feel _it. It was… coming from everywhere. And it was getting closer. Sure enough, the building he stood atop of began to shake, at first only slightly. But then it became more violent. It was as if the very earth itself was groaning and attempting to overturn itself.

Rather than fearing whatever it was that was rapidly approaching, the Kyuubi container allowed a beastly grin to form on his face, his fangs showing dangerously. This was going to be fun.

Without warning, a large section of the building seemed to explode, as brick, wood, and concrete were sent skyward, the rest of it collapsing. Thanks to his demon-enhanced reflexes, the blonde was able to avoid getting caught in the destruction of the building. Eyes narrowing, he watched the remainder of the structure as it was raised to the ground, hoping to find what had caused it.

The rumbling once again resumed, and he found himself on the defensive. Until he caught a glimpse of the culprit behind this, he couldn't retaliate. Whatever it was, it was _massive._

_**Whoomp!**_

The building suddenly lurched to one side, before toppling like a tree whose base had just been sawed through. Again the jinchuuriki leapt from his position, landing safely on an unscathed piece of earth. This thing could apparently track him. How it did so was a mystery, but he'd find out one way or another.

"_Stop hiding you fucking coward!_" roared the enraged blonde, his voice distorted with a demonic edge.

As if to answer his challenge, the earth behind him exploded upwards. And from the massive hole that had been made came… something.

The Kyuubi container stared at the creature in awe. It was serpent-like in appearance, with an enormous maw that was lined with hundreds, maybe even thousands of jagged teeth. It had three midnight orbs for eyes, and possessed coarse looking skin covered in razor sharp spines. And of course, upon its head sat none other than Deidara.

The sheer _size _of the beast on which he now rode was the most outstanding characteristic. From its current position, poking out of the colossal hole it had made, it stood at around three stories tall. There was no telling how much more of the creature was hidden underground.

"How do you like it brat?" called the nukenin, not at all trying to keep the smugness out of his voice. "This is my greatest work of art yet! And how lucky for you, cause you get to test it out, yeah. This will be the first time I've ever used it against a vessel."

"Am I supposed to be impressed?" growled the boy in response. Inside, he _was _impressed, perhaps even a little scared. This thing could probably crush or devour him with little effort.

"Ha. Still gonna act tough huh? Listen up you little shit. I'll give you one last chance to surrender and come along quietly, yeah. If you don't well, heh, you're gonna be in a _lot _of pain, yeah," chuckled the ponytail wearing Akatsuki member.

Naruto's only response was to let off a burst of killing intent, all the while flaring his chakra.

His opponent merely rolled his eyes while letting out an irritated sigh. "I'll take that as a no." His expression quickly turned to one of sick delight. "I was hoping you'd say that, yeah!"

The demolition user slowly began to disappear from view as he seemed to sink into his creation, as if he was being absorbed. "Don't even think of hiding!" boomed the voice of Deidara from the creature's wide open mouth. "This creation is technically blind, but it can see and track your chakra!"

'Shit. So that's how it was following me.' It made perfect sense after all. By relying on the demon's chakra, he was exuding a massive, constant flow of it, which made him a _very _easy prey to follow.

Running would do him no good, as he would be stuck on the defensive. That would continue until the Iwa nukenin got tired of playing around with him and then just crushed him. So that only left one option.

Naruto charged forward, claws ready to tear the creature to pieces. It responded in turn by diving down with its mouth wide open, hoping to devour the jinchuuriki.

Focusing a volatile amount of chakra into his legs, he launched upwards from the ground with explosive force, passing by the descending creature before it could hope to ensnare him. From in the air, he could see the serpent attempting to burrow into the ground and hide from him again. Like he would let _that _happen!

Descending rapidly towards the clay monstrosity, he prepared to land on it and begin tearing it to pieces, his claws at the ready. He was forced to come up with another plan as several smaller versions of the beast came burrowing out of the ground, leaping at him.

Slashing the one closest to him with a claw, he grimaced when he realized his mistake, which took the form of an explosion. Slamming into the ground from the force of the attack, he growled in annoyance. It hurt, but it wasn't going to stop him. But it left him wondering…

"How many of these fucking things _are _there?!"

Glancing around himself, he saw more and more of the little bastards popping out of the ground, swaying back and forth like cobras waiting to strike. Were they just going to keep coming?

If that was the case, then he would be severely outnumbered within the next few moments. Not wanting to let such a thing come to pass, he launched himself at his foes, beheading several in only a few seconds thanks to a swipe from his chakra engulfed hands.

The ensuing explosions singed various exposed parts of his skin, but the pain disappeared quickly thanks to the healing properties of his prisoner's chakra.

Clay serpents each took turns lunging at the boy, moving through the dirt as if it were liquid. Should they miss, they would turn and come back for another pass. Not wanting to have to wait for them to make a move, Naruto instead tried to pursue his target, but found himself rooted in place. Looking down, he found why.

Two of the little clay snakes had clamped on to his ankles and had no intention of letting go. He was momentarily thankful that these clay things didn't have poison like a real serpent would. That thought was cast aside when he realized the lead bastard hadn't made an appearance for a while.

Grabbing each serpent by their necks, he forcefully removed them from himself, leaving decent sized wounds from where their fangs had been ripped out of his flesh.

"I don't have time for this shit!" he snarled, throwing the nuisances away.

Evading several more strikes from the clay minions, the blonde leapt into the massive hole left behind by Deidara's master creation when it burrowed into the ground to hide.

The smaller creatures gave chase, but were quickly left in the dust due to the speed at which the Kyuubi container was moving.

x-x-X-x-x

_In Otogakure…_

_**Thwack!**_

Once more the training dummy was abused with another roundhouse kick to what would have been its neck, were it a person. The fuming redhead growled with irritation as she continued her assault on the training tool. She had been at it for several hours.

Although she hated to admit it, in a fight, if she was without her flute, she was in some pretty deep shit. This angering fact was brought to light the other day when she had been disarmed by the blonde bastard that had killed her group.

After that, she had declared that she would strive to become better in all aspects of a kunoichi, but first, in Taijutsu. That way, when she fought him again, he wouldn't get the drop on her if she was once more disarmed.

Tayuya had made that a vow. It wasn't a matter of _if _she fought him again. She _would _find him, and she _would _kill him. He had disgraced her by killing all of her comrades, and then showing her compassion by letting her live. Her honor had been damaged. But truthfully, she didn't give a damn about honor, or appearances and all that. She just wanted revenge for the humiliation she had been put through.

She was the laughing stock of all the Oto shinobi… being shown up by someone younger than herself. Come to think of it… how did such a young kid _get _that strong?

'There's no way the little shithead could be that skilled…' groused the redhead in her mind. 'It had to have been a fluke!'

Launching several more strikes against the training dummy, her mind began to wander once again. Why did the kid let her live? He had _no _reason to. He had her right where he wanted her, and all he had to do was slit her throat. But he didn't… Why? _Why?_

"Fuck!" roared the Oto kunoichi as her next attack decapitated her target, her rage getting the better of her. 'I swear I'm going to make that blonde shit pay!'

Her anger quickly dissolved as it was replaced by curiosity. Why had her boss been so interested in the boy anyway? What was so special about him, other than the fact that he was a freaky looking, annoying little brat? When she had relayed the details of their encounter, the snake had laughed! Why would the leader of a village find humor in the discovery that their soldiers had been killed? Well, he _was _one freaky bastard…

x-x-X-x-x

He had done it… he'd drawn that freaky serpent thing out from underground. Granted, to do it he'd basically had to begin clawing at the thing's ass. He had managed to find where it had slithered off to, and its tail happened to be facing him. So what did he do?

In his mind a chibi-version of himself appeared, glowing with demonic chakra as he was now. Next to him appeared a similarly cartoony version of Deidara's clay serpent. His doppelganger proceeded to shred the serpent, much like a cat would a scratching post, letting pieces rain down upon the area around him. The chibi then gave a victory pose.

…Until the explosives went off…

That had hurt like a bitch, and he certainly didn't want to go through such an experience again. Because they had been underground at the time, the area was very narrow and enclosed, meaning that the explosions from the separated pieces of clay were quite contained, and much more dangerous.

Being in such close proximity to said explosives, the blonde had ended up with several burns and tears in his clothing. Ultimately though, it had resulted in getting the beast to surface, as it couldn't turn around in the narrow tunnel to accost its attacker.

All in all, the creature, if stood on its tail and pointed straight up to the sky, was four stories tall. And now, every bit of that creature was looking down at the blonde before it with a fierce glare, if it could be called that.

Naruto waited for the beast to move, hoping for an opening of some sort. He was not disappointed when the clay serpent opened its maw and launched several spherical projectiles at him. He dodged the attacks, but was too slow to evade the sweep of the thing's tail, which batted him away like a gnat.

The Kyuubi container winced as he felt the barbed spines on the creature's body rip through his flesh, tearing open his jacket, as well as a good portion of his back. Even though the wound would immediately begin to mend itself, the fact remained that it was very likely that he'd be sustaining injuries faster than the fox's chakra could heal. That could make for a highly undesirable situation.

'I can't lose…' hissed the blonde in his mind. 'Not with demonic chakra at my disposal!'

Dodging another volley of projectiles, he _saw _the tail coming this time, and leapt over it, escaping injury the second time around. However, he made certain to cleave off a decent chunk of the beast's appendage as it swept below him. With very little holding it in place, the rest of the tail broke off from the momentum of its attack, sending it flying somewhere into the already ruined city, where it detonated in a brilliant series of explosions.

He had been distracted by the fireworks for only a moment, but that was all it took…

He made a move to dodge the newest wave of incoming projectiles, but there were simply far too many for him to evade. His body was wracked with pain from the ensuing detonations. When the dust cleared, he was kneeling, face in a grimace, with both arms hanging limp at his sides.

Then the beast struck, launching itself at the boy with its maw wide open. He couldn't dodge. His body was far too seriously injured, and he wouldn't have been able to get very far with such a sluggish body. Clamping its jaws down around the blonde, it lifted its head and flung him into the air, before swallowing him with an audible **gulp.**

Everything became dark for Naruto. He could still hear and feel, but he couldn't see anything. His body burned with untold pain, and he could feel the walls around him closing in, as if to ensnare him and prevent his escape from his clay prison.

"Can't breathe…" he gasped, the air around him getting thinner. This wouldn't kill him, but it certainly didn't help to comfort him either. He couldn't help but wonder if he hadn't been protected by Jashin's blessing of eternal life, would he be experiencing death right now?

"Heh, now I just wait until the brat passes out, then we can get the hell out of here, yeah," chuckled Deidara from within his clay creation. The kid had put up one hell of a fight, that much was certain. But in the end, he was still no match for Deidara, master demolitionist!

'**Grr… at this rate the boy will fail…' **growled Kyuubi, being able to see what was transpiring in the jinchuuriki's mind.

The two nin from Akatsuki had referred to Naruto as the "Kyuubi container" which meant that they were most likely aware of his presence inside of his human host.

'**I will not go quietly,' **snarled the fox, **'I will **_**not**_** submit to mere humans!'**

While still staving off the attempts on its mind, the demon released all the chakra it could manage, and began pumping it into the boy's body, ill consequences be damned!

The effect was instantaneous. Naruto's eyes dilated, before sharpening to a predator's glare. His breath seemed to leave his body, the immense force of the chakra being released taking its toll on him.

Then everything seemed to simply erupt. The effect of the demon's chakra, and such a potent amount of it, on Deidara's clay could only be described as a cataclysmically violent reaction. Which so much foreign chakra, demonic at that, intermingling with the chakra used to sustain it, the explosive stability of the clay was lost, and the serpent began to shudder violently.

To anyone watching from the edges of the town, they would have seen a massive pillar of light, followed by a roar that would put many of the bijuu to shame, as the explosion tore through the town of Chemizansu. The mere sound of the detonation could have been heard for miles, and the shockwave would have knocked anyone in the vicinity off their feet, assuming they hadn't been vaporized by the initial blast.

Deidara was thrown clear of the destruction of his creation, which was a fairly long distance to be flung. He had become used to his summons exploding in his face on more than one occasion. The first time it happened, three quarters of the hair on his head had been blown off, leaving a mildly embarrassing style. After that, he had deemed it necessary to create a countermeasure for such a situation, which he had, in the form of a jutsu which he was capable of maintaining while fighting an opponent.

The technique in question was essentially a barrier of specialized chakra. The chakra he used in maintaining his clay and causing it to explode was unique, in the sense that only _it _could set off the clay. Otherwise, anyone could set off with a simple command, or with enough chakra. The barrier he used was also made up of this chakra, so that it nullified the effects of his own explosive techniques and clay. Hey, he wasn't an S-ranked nukenin for nothing! How embarrassing would it had been for such a high level nin to be killed by his own attack?

Unfortunately, this also left him baffled, as he watched the aftermath of his creature's explosion. How was it possible for the brat to have set off his technique? Only _he _was supposed to be able to do that. Was the demon's chakra really that unstable and volatile?

'He destroyed my serpent? A _kid?!_' he gasped in silent shock.

He then noticed the animal-like boy staring at him. That feral gaze… there was no humanity there. It was the look a hunter would give its prey. Looking over the boy's shoulder he saw the two tails of chakra.

'He's lost control… shit. This is _not _good,' he frowned, all the while checking how much clay he had left in his pouch. Barely a handful, if that. It would have to do.

Taking it into the mouth on his hand, he prepared for the finale to end the conflict with the Kyuubi container. No words needed to be exchanged. It would only be a waste of his breath as it were.

Charging the boy, Deidara launched into a fierce series of taijutsu moves; punches, kicks, whatever he could manage. His frustration grew as the demon container blocked each and every attack, without even so much as flinching.

Attacking with a kick to the boy's head, he once again found it blocked, but was content with such a result, as it allowed him to slip under his opponent's guard. Shoving his hand in front of the boy's face, the mouth on his palm opened and launched the remaining clay he had. Or… it would have, had Naruto not slammed his own palm against it, blocking the clay's exit.

Deidara attempted to pull his hand away, but it was caught in an iron grip. A sick and twisted smile appeared on the younger blonde's face. Raising his free arm, he flexed the claw, showing the demolitionist his intention, which only caused him to struggle more.

Bringing it down with as much force as he could, he watched with satisfaction as the Iwa nukenin's arm was cleaved at the shoulder, rending flesh and bone.

A bloodcurdling scream tore itself from the Akatsuki nin's throat, as he watched his now useless limb fall to the ground. Stumbling back, he attempted to put as much distance between himself and the demon container as he could manage.

Naruto lunged at the retreating nin, intent on making a killing blow. He had not anticipated a metallic, mace-like hand slamming into the side of his face, sending him skidding across the ground.

Looking from Deidara to his severed right arm, Sasori could only shake his head in irritation. "I had believed you capable of handling this on your own. I see now that I was mistaken."

"S-Sasori-danna! He summoned the demon's power, yeah! He caught me by surprise!" protested Deidara, trying not to succumb to blood loss.

Noticing the gathering puddle of blood, the puppet master could only sigh in irritation. "We have underestimated our foes, and shall retreat for now."

Approaching his partner's severed arm, he leapt back as a massive stalagmite erupted from the ground, barring his path. On a nearby structure, or at least what little remained of it, sat Hidan, hands in the final seal for the technique he had just executed. He was panting heavily, sweat pouring down his face. He was fighting just to stay conscious at this point in time.

"Tsk, enough. We leave now."

Grabbing Deidara by his still attached arm, the two disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Glad that's over," muttered Hidan. He looked around for any sign of his surrogate ward.

Using his scythe to support his weight, like a walking staff of sorts, he made his way over to where he could sense the demonic chakra being exuded by Naruto. He found him standing there, searching for where his enemies could have gone.

"They're gone brat," the silver-haired nin offered. "Nice job by the way. A little twisted, but you got it done."

Crimson eyes snapped over to the scythe user.

"Don't look at me like that. Now help me get-" he was cut off as a claw caught him across the chest.

"Nngh. What the fuck kid?! Get a hold of yourself!" shouted Hidan.

He barely moved enough to dodge a second attack. His body was sluggish, though, and he would _not _be able to hold out long.

'He ain't himself… fucking great. Jashin-sama, think you could do something about this?' thought the nukenin.

The blonde went to attack again, but clutched his head as an intense pain tore through it. Staggering back, he found it worsening, threatening to split his skull in two. Being unable to bear it, he collapsed, unconscious.

Hidan sighed with relief as the two tails of chakra dispersed, along with the rest of the crimson substance. He then looked from the boy to himself. "If he's out, then who's gonna… FUCK!"

How the hell were they supposed to get somewhere to recover when the brat was passed out, and _he _was just barely conscious and weak as shit from the poison?!

Making the necessary seals, he created two Tsuchi Bunshins. "Get us the fuck out of here," he ordered, before darkness claimed him.

x-x-X-x-x

Naruto awoke to the sound of someone tapping their foot. Looking around him, he found the source of it as being Hidan, who was leaning against a boulder a few yards away.

"Nice to see you too," muttered the blonde, getting to his feet. He ignored the popping of his joints, and the burning sensation of his skin. Considering he was still in once piece, he figured he had nothing to complain about. He _felt _exhausted though.

Next to Hidan lay… another Hidan? This must have been a clone then. The question was, why hadn't it dispelled yet?

"You have a message for me?" inquired the jinchuuriki.

The Tsuchi Bunshin nodded once. "Hidan has been incapacitated by a poison. You are to see to his safety."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Great. Is that all you had to say?"

Another nod, after which the clone crumpled into dirt and rock. It appeared as though it only had enough chakra left to deliver its message. Those things always bothered him though. They had no personality whatsoever. While they may have looked like their summoner, they in almost no way acted like them, unlike Kage Bunshin.

Well, seeing as how they weren't going anywhere in the near distant future, the ten year-old remembered that he had a deal to keep. Sitting in the lotus position, he closed his eyes and let himself relax, allowing his mind to wander.

Several hours later, the Kyuubi container opened his eyes. Stretching out his stiff limbs, he knew that he had been out of it for a while. Hidan was still unconscious, which meant that they _still _weren't going anywhere for the moment. He could have always had a few clones carry him, but frankly, he didn't know where they could go.

Laying on his back, the blonde once again closed his eyes. Focusing on the seal on his stomach, he let his consciousness slip into the sewer that housed the demon within himself.

Hearing water dripping, he knew he was in the right place. Coming here was different from meditation, as time flowed much slower here. Walking along the familiar maze of passages and corridors, he soon found himself in front of the Kyuubi's cage.

There was only darkness within, with no sign of the fox. "Hey furball! Get your ass where I can see it!" shouted the jailor, hoping to taunt the kitsune into showing itself. He received no reaction.

"Come on you bastard fox! I need to know if what I did worked or not!"

An enormous glowing eye appeared as the fox's eyelid lifted. **"What do you want, boy?"** growled the demon.

"I meditated for a while and asked Jashin-sama to leave you alone. That way, you can serve him better by aiding me. I just wanted to know if it worked or not," elaborated the boy, watching for the beast's reaction.

The demon let out a grunt. **"I serve no one," **it spokein a tone which indicated that there was to be no argument on the matter.** "And yes, my thoughts are my own once more."**

"So that means you'll still help me, right?" asked the blonde.

He received a snarl in response. **"Yes, boy. I will aid you. Now leave me. I desire rest…"**

"Rest?" laughed the container. "Aren't you supposed to be the strongest of the bijuu?"

A roar silenced his laughter as the single open eye narrowed dangerously. **"Hear me fleshling. I am the mightiest of all beings! But even **_**I **_**require rest eventually. An ordeal such as protecting my mind from intrusion has left me drained. Now be gone."**

With that, the ocular orb disappeared as the beast's eyelid hit it from sight once more. A deep, even breathing ensued shortly after, letting the Jashin worshipper know that the kitsune was asleep. He supposed that the demon had earned some rest… for now. With another chuckle, the ten year-old willed himself to return to consciousness.

Finding himself in the forest once again, the jinchuuriki came to the conclusion that nothing interesting was going to be happening any time soon. Approaching a nearby tree, he applied a small amount of chakra to his feet and began his ascent to the top.

Upon reaching the apex of the tree's height, the curious demon container looked around for anything of interest. Of course, since it was dusk now, there was likely to be nothing fascinating.

…Except for a giant crater and a crap load of destroyed town around it.

That was all that was left of the town? No way!

'I know there was more left than that!' he mentally shouted in awe. He that been the result of his fight with Deidara? He couldn't recall the entirety of the fight for some reason…

"Oh well, it'd be horrible to let whatever is leftover in that town go to waste," he grinned. It was time to do a little scavenging.

Looking down at Hidan's body on the forest floor below, he realized that he couldn't simply leave him unguarded. What if some animal came along and started mauling him?

The mental image of a bear using his unconscious body as a chew toy _was _pretty amusing, but he'd likely never hear the end of it afterwards.

Summoning a few Kage Bunshin, he ordered them to stand watch, to which they complied. With that issue resolved, he began leaping from tree to tree in the direction of the ruins.

The trip had only taken a few minutes, and he was amazed by the sheer amount of devastation that had taken place. It must've been one hell of a fight!

"I'll admire my handiwork later," chuckled the boy, _assuming _it had been caused by his fight.

Calling into existence more Kage Bunshin, he ordered them to fan out and search for anything of value. The clones leapt away, each wanting to locate the best find.

It didn't take long for the cry of "Naruto-sama!" to be called out by one of the clones. Heading over to where he had been summoned, he found a clone in the crater, holding something up.

He had to squint to see what it was, but began laughing immediately afterward. Pulling out a sealing scroll, he approached the clone, congratulated it on an excellent find, and accepted the item.

"Things just get better and better," he grinned.

x-x-X-x-x

_In Otogakure…_

Entering his lord's chamber, Kabuto placed a file into the awaiting hands of Orochimaru, who immediately glanced through the contents. Which each passing line, the snake's brows furrowed more and more, leaving the medic-nin to wonder what was could distress the sannin so much.

"Orochimaru-sama?" he questioned, hoping to get some sort of answer on the issue.

Setting the file down, the pale man turned his serpentine gaze to his subordinate. "It would seem that my old _associates _are moving much earlier than I had anticipated."

'Associates…? But that would mean…'

"Kabuto."

The med-nin was pulled from him thoughts. Looking to his master, he awaited a further explanation.

"Summon my personal guard. It seems we must now make a move of our own."

-Chapter End-

* * *

Draknal: Well there you have it. I will sincerely try not to let the story go _this _long without an update again. I doubt I can apologize enough for how long it took. Granted, part of the wait was due to computer problems. Anywho, let me know what you thought of the chapter and drop me a review! I'd really appreciate it.

And thanks to my beta reader B for helping to keep this story going strong!


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